


We Are But Dust And Shadow

by Darkshines1984



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-11-14 13:12:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 62,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18053132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkshines1984/pseuds/Darkshines1984
Summary: Humanity’s (and Clara’s) history is altered when the Krotons invade Earth. They capture the Doctor and have Clara cornered. She calls out to the only person she can think of capable of saving them which leads to a dangerous and chaotic planet hopping adventure with someone she really shouldn’t trust. It shouldn’t be fun…but for an adrenaline junkie it really is.





	1. Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo - If I cannot sway the heavens, I will raise hell

**Author's Note:**

> This Missy/Clara fic is a bit more plot heavy. It takes place after Sleep No More in season 9. If it goes down well it might be part one of a two part series.

Clara was running.

In her time with the Doctor she had spent countless hours running. She had run towards danger to save others, sometimes whole worlds. She had run away from danger, hand in hand with the Time Lord, when he was a young man and when he was a quirky older Scotsman. This time was different from what had come before. This time she was running alone and in true fear for her own life and for the fate of her planet.

The Doctor was captured, or at least she hoped he had been captured and nothing worse. The Earth was being invaded – had already been invaded – by crystalline robots. It had happened so quickly. They had been recovering on the TARDIS after their near miss on the Le Verrier spaceship in orbit around Neptune in the thirty-eight century, having escaped sentient (and angry) sleep dust. Then they had received an emergency transmission from Kate Letherbridge-Stewart from UNIT, begging for help because Earth was under attack.

When they had arrived, it was already too late. The invaders were using Earth’s own technology, patching into every computer and mobile phone to take control. The Doctor hadn’t even had time to explain who they were or what was happening when they found themselves under fire. The TARDIS had left, protocol 712 having been activated due to the high risk on the planet. The TARDIS may be sentient, but it was still the most advanced piece of technology in the universe and it couldn’t fall into the hands of aliens that hacked tech at astonishing speed.

Something had been wrong with the Doctor and they had gotten separated, well he had demanded she kept running. So, she was running as fast as she could, picking her way down endless corridors in the UNIT headquarters, leaping over the fallen bodies of British soldiers. It was terrible – even more so because she didn’t have time to stop and check for survivors. The alien robots were hot on her heels.

She was also bleeding and injured. A gash on her cheek where she had clipped her cheek on the edge of the desk when diving for cover. That was the least of the two injuries though. The second injury was a glancing hit to her abdomen from one of the alien’s firey weapon blasts. It had hit the wall next to her, the metal taking most of the energy of the blast but not sparing her completely. It had nocked her of her feet but the adrenaline pumping through her body had given her enough impetus to get straight back up and keep going. It hurt like hell though and that pain was draining her of energy quicker than normal.

Breathless and scared, she was relieved when she reached a corridor she recognised. She had been here with Kate before, one of the times that the Zygon’s had rebelled that the Doctor had wiped from UNITs memories. It was one of the main control centres’ and had access to multiple agencies worldwide and across the UK including GCHQ. If Clara had any chance of taking back control, then this was the place she was going achieve it…or die trying.

Entrance to the control room was via facial recognition. Clara had the highest access pass available to mankind, so this was not an issue. If the aliens hadn’t guessed her destination already then accessing the door would be a neon marker of her location. It didn’t matter – if she didn’t succeed there would be nowhere for her to run to anyway. Her only other option was not a solution but a gambit and not a desirable one.

She slammed to a halt in front of the door sensor, praying that it would scan her quickly enough for her not to get caught and shot in the back. The seconds felt like minutes but finally the door slid open to reveal the control room. She practically fell through the door way, the pain increasing now that she wasn’t focussing hard on sprinting. The Doctor had thrust the sonic sunglasses into her hands just before screaming at her to run. She grabbed them out the inside pocket of her black leather jacket and placed them over her eyes, focussing on the door panel on the inside of the control room. There was no point just locking the door as the aliens would surely just be able to override it, so she concentrated on first closing the door and then burning the panel out. Just as it slid shut, she could see a robot-like creature turning into the corridor just outside the room.

As soon as the door was shut firm and the panel was smoking, Clara stumbled towards the main computer with the giant screen in front of it. She focused the sonic sunglasses at the large computer system and tried to hack back into it. It appeared to be working – access was granted.

“Please work, please work” She pleaded out loud.

Clara started to try and access the computers at GCHQ, hoping that if she regained control in that one location, that the clever technical types that worked there could continue trying to break back into the systems. For a few seconds it looked like her plan could work but then she was locked out again and all the work was for nothing. There was no point trying again, she could feel the way the sonic sunglasses were straining on the last attempt, like they could be hacked or even destroyed by the process.

Outside in the corridor she could hear the robot alien doing something – something that probably consisted of breaking into the room to join her. Time was running out.

“Think Clara” she snapped at herself – tapping her temple in frustration.

The whole planet had been taken over, UNIT was decimated, the Doctor was missing in action and the TARDIS was gone. There was nowhere left to turn and no one to turn to. Or was there? The idea was as ridiculous as it was unlikely to work but it may well be her last hope. If it was really any kind of hope at all. Would she even come?

Clara stumbled over to one of the other computers, her left hand pressed against her bleeding side. When she had been here with Kate, they had used this computer to send a long-range text to the Doctor via one of Earth’s largest transmitters. She would only need to be able to access this device and her phone for a matter of seconds to send such a message.

She placed her phone on the desk by the computer facing upwards. It was turned off because he had instructed her to do so within seconds of landing on Earth. In theory it hadn’t been hacked yet.

Clara used the sonic sunglasses to grant her access to the computer and then focussed them on her phone, placing them on the screen so they could complete their task – to hunt down a number left on her phone whilst she had been unconscious once. She had never used it and had never thought she would have reason too.

Clara began to type out a short and succinct message that was guaranteed to catch attention. Seconds ticked by as she waited for the phone number to appear on the screen and she started to panic that time would run out on her again. Just as she was giving up hope the contact appeared on screen plus the annoying emoji’s that had been typed in with the name. She pressed send but before she could see if it the message had actually gone, she was locked out of the system. Both the phone and the sunglasses sparked violently.

Clara picked the sonic up and turned it in her hands. It appeared to be completely powerless. She really was out of options now – it was down to the gambit and a bit of blind hope.

The panel on the door sparked, signalling the alien had either repaired it or broke the lock. Clara pushed backwards away from the computer and put her back against the far wall of the room, facing the door. She put the sunglasses back in her inside pocked and took out the last resort that she had been hiding in her right pocket. The rest of it was tucked into the waistband of her jeans and she unzipped her coat, so it was clearly visible.

The door slowly opened to reveal one of the crystalline robots. It rolled into the room, moving in a manner that was not dissimilar to a Dalek. It didn’t seem to notice her immediately until she took a deep steadying breath. Then it turned completely in her direction and started to aim its firing arm in her direction. She pressed the first button in her hand, arming the device she carried.

“I wouldn’t if I was you” Clara warned - “I picked up a little present from one of the fallen.”

The present was a cyber-bomb, once stored in the black archives below the tower of London. The Doctor had told Clara that it was the most powerful bomb ever created. The small tube was enough to completely take out everything in a five-mile radius. Bigger versions of the bomb could take out an entire planet. She had found it on one of the fallen soldiers. He had obviously been killed when transporting it into the facility.

Clara had enough explosive stuffed down her trousers to wipe out the entire building and every alien in it. This had been ground zero of the invasion, destroying it may give the rest of humanity enough time to retake control of their computers or shut them down and render them useless. The robot seemed to understand the threat and paused the movement of the firing arm. It was still aimed right at her as she held her thumb just over the detonation button. The light from the computers refracted of the crystal structure on the robot. It would have been quite beautiful in another less deadly situation.

“So, the question is, do you think you can shoot fast enough to stop me pressing this button and taking you and this whole base with me?” Clara snarled.

This was it. This was her gambit. It was a shootout between two very different gunslingers. Only for Clara the result would be fatal either way. She slid down the wall, so she was sat on the floor.

“Welcome to the wild fucking west” she added bitterly.

Clara hadn’t considered death when travelling with the Doctor. She had known it was possible to die on one of their adventures, that she may not return to Earth. Hell, she’d skirted death once or twice – they both had. There had never been a moment when she had stopped to consider how it may happen, but she doubted this was a situation she could have dreamed up. If she could have chosen, then it wouldn’t be to die alone, or at least not without being able to say goodbye to the Doctor. If she had to press this button it was even likely she would take him with her. What a mess.

They seemed to be at a stand-off. Clara was ailing fast though and the longer she remained still the worse she felt. Even the adrenaline of the moment was doing little to stop all her pain receptors firing. There was only so much longer she could hold off before having to bite the bullet and press the damn button.

Then there was a flash of blue light behind the alien and Clara only just managed to stop her hand closing around the device and the button in shock. A secondary light blasted forward into the robot, obliterating it in front of her eyes. It was so bright she had to cover her eyes with her left hand. When she dropped her hand, she was greeted by hope. Hope in the form of an evil, manic Time Lady dressed in a conservative dark blue log skirt and matching fitted jacket. A psychotic version of Mary Poppins.

Missy had come. Apparently sending a text with ‘Hey Missy you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind’ had worked wonders.

“Yipee ki yay” Clara chuckled.

Missy raised a quizzical brow at her before glancing around the room. The Time Lady pressed her hand to her temple, just like Clara had seen the Doctor do when they had first arrived. She supposed her reference wouldn’t make much sense to anyone who hadn’t heard her wild west comment.

Clara pressed the first button again, disarming the bomb so she didn’t accidently blow them up. Then she tried to pull herself up to her feet using the console next to her, but it was proving difficult. The Time Lady stepped forward and grabbed her other elbow, pulling her up the rest of the way so she upright. It hurt considerably and Clara pressed her blood covered left hand to the wound again to try and stem the trickling flow of dark red liquid. Missy’s eyes followed the hand to the injury before looking up at Clara’s cut face again.

“You look like shit puppy” the other woman remarked.

Clara felt like shit, so she didn’t doubt that she looked just as awful. There was a good chance she was going to pass out from the pain soon if she didn’t get medical help. Still, Missy didn’t have to point it out quite so bluntly.

“Its nice to see you too” Clara sassed.

Missy simply winked in response.

Although it was aimed as a sarcastic remark, she was absolutely thrilled to see the Time Lady. It had been a long shot that the other woman would even come, and Clara was purely banking on the fact Missy would rather see the Doctor and his companion die by her own hand and not another’s. Of course, give it an hour of the other woman’s company and Clara may wish she’d let the alien finish her off instead.

There was a scuffling noise in the corridor and the Time Lady spun around. Clara could just about see around her and the elaborate outfit she wore – there was not one but three of the damn aliens rolling down the corridor towards them. One of Missy’s hands flew to her temple again, the same as the Doctor had kept doing before he collapsed in a heap in the corridor.

“Time to go” the Time Lady rasped as she turned back towards Clara.

Something small whistled passed Missy’s shoulder at hit Clara in the upper arm, causing her to yelp out in pain. It was a projectile of some sort and it had lodged itself just below the skin. Missy took one giant stride in her direction and wrapped both arms around her, catching Clara completely off guard.

It was like a hug except suddenly Clara’s world felt like it was spinning, and she could see light flashing by her eyes at break neck speeds. Or perhaps it was them that were moving at break neck speeds. Missy had used her Time Vortex Manipulator.

They came to a crashing halt and Clara was sure she’d have ended up on the floor if it wasn’t for the strong arms that were wrapped around her. Except, although they had stopped moving, Clara’s head hadn’t stopped spinning. She was dizzy, her limbs weak, her arm stung, her side was agonisingly painful, and everything was quickly fading to black.


	2. Novus ordo seclorum New order of the ages - New order of the ages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback - The story of how Clara and the Doctor arrived at the invasion and got split up.

_‘Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.’_

Clara was sat at the reading desk on the upper gallery of the TARDIS console room. She was reading Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist. She had tried to read it as a teenager and had only got a few chapters in before putting it down. At that age, she hadn’t appreciated the philosophical nature of the prose. Over the years she had heard many people praise the book and had decided she should give it another go.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping by now?” the Doctor suddenly spoke up.

Clara was so engrossed in the Shepherds journey that she heard him speak but didn’t process the words.

 

“Pardon?” she asked, without even glancing up from the book.

“You are human” the Doctor stated.

Clara finally glanced up from the book and looked at him quizzically. He was stood just a few feet away by the chalk board, as he had been for the last hour, scribbling what looked to be mathematical problems down in a haphazard manner. It all looked very clever but knowing the Doctor is was probably just something random like calculating how long his current pair of boots would last. He did odd things like that after particularly adrenaline pumping adventures.

“That is very observant of you Sherlock” she replied sarcastically.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. He probably classed her response as banter and he still wasn’t fond of banter. The Doctor placed the chalk down on the ledge of the board and approached her. She had tried to focus on her book again but as he drew closer, she watched him carefully from over the top of object. He drew his sonic sunglasses out of the top pocket of his black thigh length coat and placed them over his eyes. They looked a bit more ridiculous than usual when he was smartly dressed. In his hoodie and plaid pants, they seemed a little more outfit appropriate.

“Hmmmmm” he mumbled as he leaned over the table towards her.

The Time Lord was clearly scanning her for some reason. It was a good job she trusted him not to perve on her because she was sure those glasses could do x-ray vision. She still lent back away from him and swatted at him with the book, for just scanning her without asking for consent.

“Hmmm?” she queried as he straightened up again.

The Doctor removed the sunglasses from his face and tucked them back into his jacket pocket.

“I think it’s the effects of the Morpheus machine” he said seriously - “It might take a day before your body goes back to normal.”

Clara finally realised what he was fussing about. It had been hours since they had escaped the spaceship orbiting Neptune. She had been awake for around twenty-eight hours so normally by now she would be in serious need of a few hours sleep. Instead she was wide awake and powering through the novel. The device was meant to condense hours of sleep into a very small period. Even though she had been in there for a matter of seconds it had probably classed as hours of rest. Add that to all the adrenaline of being chased around the ship by monstrous sandmen and she was bound not to sleep for a while.

It was quite sweet really, that he had noticed and that he was concerned enough to fuss on her. The Doctor had been more and more attentive since they had returned to each other at Christmas. She had felt like a passenger when he had first regenerated. He was often totally socially inept with her and blind to her feelings or concerns. Now he had gone to the other extreme and seemed hyperaware of her moods and needs. He was opening doors for her, making sure she was fed and watered enough and now he was worrying over her sleeping patterns. It made her feel special, to have his focus so intensely upon her. Special and loved – even though he would never admit to it.

She was brought back to the present by the text tone of a phone. Clara reached down into her leather jacket, which was hung on the back of her chair, before she realised that wasn’t her text tone. Instead it was the Doctor who reached into his right pocket and pulled out the smart phone she had given him. He typed in his four-digit pin, looking at the mobile phone like it may leap up out of his hands and attack him. He had barely used it, other than to pick up the odd phone call from her demanding to be picked up a day or two earlier than planned. That was happening more and more often now. She couldn’t go a whole week without the rush of an adventure.

“What’s it doing?” he protested – thrusting it under her nose.

Clara placed her book down on the table and took the offending object from him. It was amazing how he could fly a TARDIS or hack into alien computer systems but couldn’t fathom something as simple as a smart phone.

“It’s a text old man!” she mocked him in jest.

The message was from a known contact – Kate Letherbrige Stewart. Clara thought it was awfully strange that the scientist would text and not ring. She hoped it wasn’t another Zyagon invasion of Earth. The treaty had broken down four times this year already, the last occasion being just a few weeks ago. Clara was getting sick of those damn Truth or Consequence boxes especially after the last time. That had been by far the most organised and dangerous breakdown of the peace so far.

The message opened to reveal two short sentences, all in capital letters. It had obviously been sent in a hurry.

‘PLANET UNDER ATTACK FROM UNKNOWN ALIENS. IMMEDIATE HELP NEEDED.’

“Oh god we need to go back to Earth” Clara exclaimed - “it’s a distress message from Kate and UNIT.”

She thrust the phone back in his direction so he could read the message too. As soon as he had done so he thrust the phone back in his pocket without locking it. Lord knows who he would end up pocket calling this time – Marilyn Munroe? Elvis? The Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick Cord Longstaff XLI?

The Doctor bounded down the steps to the central console and began pressing buttons and pulling levers at a furious pace. The TARDIS launched into life, moving through the Time Vortex at full speed. He continued to move around the console, turning on various scanners as he went. The Time Lord pulled the monitor screen roughly towards him and scanned the data. His eyes scanned across it rapidly, clearly absorbing a lot of data very quickly. He looked worried, his brow so furrowed his angry eyebrows met in the middle.

Clara had joined him by the console as he glared at the screen, leather jacket already on so she was ready to go as soon as they landed.

“What’s wrong?” she inquired.

The Doctor paused and tilted his head so he could look at her as he spoke, his face half illuminated by the glass structure that stood between them on the centre console.

“I don’t know” he admitted - “the readings are all over the place.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The TARDIS had seemed reluctant to land at UNIT HQ despite the fact there was nothing obviously blocking them. It had taken the Doctor three attempts to make her land and when the ship finally obliged, he seemed even more pensive than before.

They carefully exited the TARDIS into what appeared to be an empty corridor. HQ was unusually quiet. It was never packed to the brim with people as it was a top security base, but the silence seemed almost eerie given Kate’s urgent message. Something was very wrong, Clara could feel it in the air - if that was even possible.

The Doctor looked troubled by the lack of movement around them too and pressed his palm to his temple. It was reminiscent of a human with a throbbing headache, but he was a Time Lord and they were not affected by such petty physical gripes.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“Not really no” the Time Lord admitted.

He rubbed the same spot on his temple again before beginning to stride down the corridor. He was much taller than her, so she had to break into a jog to keep up to him. He grasped her hand, something which was common when running for their lives but not a normal action when walking about. Clara let him lead her by the hand without protest despite her concerns.

They hadn’t even reached the end of the corridor when a familiar whirring sound rung out from behind them.

“The TARDIS!” Clara cried out.

They both spun around to see their ship dematerialising and the Doctor scrambled the sonic sunglasses out of his pocket to try and stop her leaving. It was too late though – by the time he had them on his face she was completely gone. It had done it once before – when they had been on the Russian Submarine and it was plummeting down into dangerous depths. There was a protocol built into the ship that took it to safety if to a safe location if it was at risk of being destroyed.

“Clara, I think we are in trouble” the Doctor rasped.

She had that fact figured out for herself. If the TARDIS had left, then whatever they were facing was extreme. They were also now facing it without the most powerful ship in the universe at their disposal and without a quick escape route. That was trouble with a capital T.

The Time Lord released her hand and spun three sixty on the spot, obviously using his sonic device to scan the base for answers. That didn’t require the amount of physical movement he was currently displaying but Clara was well used to his coping methods by now. The constant movement and chatter in a crisis helped pump up his adrenaline – it made him sharper both mentally and physically.

 “Turn your phone off” he suddenly demanded.

Clara glared at him, irritated by his sharp tone towards her and the lack of explanation.

“What? Why?” she asked.

He grasped at his head again with one hand whilst he retrieved his own phone from his pocket. She didn’t reach for her own phone yet, too distracted by his obvious discomfort.

“Phone. Off. Now!” he snapped when he noticed she wasn’t obeying his orders.

He never spoke to her like that. Perhaps once or twice after he had first regenerated whilst he was still figuring himself out. It stung but it also made her burst into life. He was panicking, and if the Doctor was panicking then things were dire.

She took he phone out and turned it off, barely having time to stuff it back in her pocket before he was grabbing her hand again. He led her down the last few steps of the corridor and what they found in the corridor perpendicular to them was horrific. There were several UNIT soldiers, all armed and ready for battle, lying dead on the floor. Their bodies and clothing looked charred, like they had been burnt to death rather than shot.

The Time Lord didn’t seem interested in stopping to look at them closer and carried on tugging her onwards, stepping over the bodies as they went. She wanted to stop and look for survivors even though it was highly unlikely. Her frustration at his lack of answers was starting to rear again but before she could voice her irritation there was a sound behind them in the corridor they had just vacated.

It was familiar, but not familiar at the same time. When something sounds like something you recognise but you know it’s not exactly the same. There was the sound of something rolling across the hall and the hum of machinery.

“What is it?” she asked the Doctor - “is that a Dalek?”

Clara’s experiences with the Dalek’s hadn’t been very warming. There had been those she had seen in orbit around Trenzalore but they paled in comparison to her experience on Skaro. Without Missy’s intervention they would have killed her. Then the same Time Lady had stuffed her inside one and tried to get her killed. It had been a very confusing and frightening experience and every now and again she would still wake up in a sweat after some very unpleasant nightmares.

“No” the Doctor froze - “I think it may be something much worse.”

Clara couldn’t imagine anything worse than a Dalek - a warrior race of angry tin can tanks created purely to destroy. It didn’t seem like she was going to have to try to imagine it for long because it was closing in on them fast. The Doctor had pulled them to the corner of the next corridor, so they could still see what was coming but could also dart out the way immediately. The Doctor tapped at his temple with his palm, like he was trying to remember something or trying to block something out.

When their foe did roll into view Clara wasn’t sure what to make of it. Like the Dalek it was a tank like robot but with not one but two arms that looked like they contained weaponry. Instead of the smooth rounded top of a Dalek, there was a large crystalline structure. They looked a bit ridiculous if Clara was being honest but ridiculous could be deadly.

It didn’t notice them at first but when the Doctor grasped his head again the machine lifted the larger of the two arms.

“Run!” the Time Lord yelled.

Clara barely had the chance to move her own feet before he was dragging her around the corner. Behind them, where they had just been standing, fast moving flames ripped down the corridor. No wonder the Doctor was flapping, one wrong move and they could be barbequed.  

They ran down the corridor and into the next one, passing different rooms as they went. They had to step over more burnt UNIT soldiers, their bodies slowing the progress of the machine chasing them. It gave the Doctor enough time to halt them by a lab with an open door. There were computers in the lab, all turned on, but all displaying the same screen. It had a faint orange background with black alien symbols scrolling down the screen consistently. There was an abandoned mobile phone by one of the keyboards and it was displaying the same screen.

“They are taking over all of Earths technology” the Doctor explained.

The Time Lord leant back against the door frame and pressed both hands against his temples. He looked paler than usual, pallid and sickly. Clara reached for him on instinct, pressing one palm against his white shirt covered chest. She could feel his two hearts racing under that palm.

“I don’t know how to stop this” the Doctor worried.

Clara reached out with her other hand and pressed it against his jaw, drawing his eyes down to hers. The Doctor without hope was terrifying – she’d seen glimpses of it on route to Skaro but not like this. There was a sad smile on his face as he looked at her, sad and defeated. She wanted to hug him – if only it could make things better.

The sound of rolling in the adjacent corridor broke the moment between them. She had no desire to be burnt alive so this time she was the one who took of first, pulling him after her by his jacket lapels. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what bit of the building they were in, so she just tried to keep them moving, praying they didn’t run head first into another one of those things.

Then, very suddenly, the Doctor cried out and dropped onto his knees. It pulled the lapels out of her grasp, ripping two buttons of the black coat. He was grasping his head like he was in utter agony.

“Doctor!” she cried out – terrified the alien robot would catch them at any moment.

Clara tried to pull him to his feet but there was no chance of her shifting his weight. He may well be scrawny, but he was also a foot taller than her and he was doing nothing to help. Instead he reached into his top pocket and thrust the sonic sunglasses into her free hand. It was all happening so quickly that she could barely process what was going on.

“Clara keep going” the Doctor begged.

“I’m not leaving you!” she exclaimed.

Did he really think that Clara would just leave him, knowing that he was likely to be charred to a crisp? Could he even survive something like that, or would it leave him too injured to regenerate? She didn’t want him to regenerate, she liked this version of him. He was her scrawny Scottish old man.

The robot thing was rolling ever closer though and the Doctor REALLY wasn’t budging – just writhing in pain.

“CLARA RUN!” he screamed at her.

She didn’t want to leave him but if she stayed, they would both die. If that happened, then the Earth was lost. She couldn’t put one Time Lord above her entire planet. So, with a heavy heart, she took the sonic sunglasses and ran.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	3. Via trita, via tuta - Beaten path, safe path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara wakes up in an old country house after being rescued by Missy. She wants answers - can she really trust the Time Lady to give her honest ones after what she did on Skaro?

As Clara began to wake up, she was still dazed, like the room was slowly turning around her. It took several seconds to recall what had happened and why she had been unconscious – the distress call, UNIT, the robots, leaving the Doctor behind, Missy, the vortex manipulator.

She felt dizzy, like she had when teleporting, but her side was no longer in agonising pain were the crystalline robot had shot her. In fact, it didn’t seem to be hurting at all, although there was a sharp pain in her right upper arm. Clara reached across her body and touched the tender area. There was a rip in her black long-sleeved top and a slight lump in the skin, but no open wound.

Clara opened her eyes, blinking several times to bring her surroundings back into focus. She was lying on something comfortable, but it wasn’t a bed. It was like a sofa with no sides - a chaise lounge or whatever they were called. The room she was in looked very retro – perhaps early twentieth century. There was electricity, evidenced by the dim ceiling lights, but no sign of any other technology. It appeared to be the spacious living room of somebody’s house. Clara didn’t recognise it and was confident she hadn’t been there before.

There was piano music playing softly in the background. Clara recognised it as a classical piece but wasn’t sure what it was called. She also noted that there was an underlying crackle to the music, like it was one of those old vinyl records played on an old turntable. It signalled the fact she was not alone – not that she would expect to be after being whisked away to safety by the Time Lady.

There was a small cough from somewhere behind her, obviously designed to catch Clara’s attention. She sat up, swinging her leg over the side of the chaise lounge and faced the direction the sound had came from. There, sat in a leather armchair, was Missy.

The Time Lady had changed her clothes…into exactly the same Mary Poppins-esque outfit, but this time in brown. The colour suited her, even more so than the blue and purple versions Clara had previously seen. Not that she thought Missy was attractive, not beyond a vague physical appreciation anyway.

“Morning sleepyhead” the Time Lady greeted.

It wasn’t like Clara had just laid down and taken a nap. She’d been chased around the UNIT base by psychotic robots, just hours after being chased around a spaceship by psychotic sleep dust. It was amazing she wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead because of Missy had come to her rescue.

“You saved me” Clara stated.

It shouldn’t be completely impossible to get her head around – Missy had saved her on Skaro. It was still really hard to get her head around though. There was no benefit to the Time Lady in saving her, not that Clara could see. On Skaro she had been kept alive to use as a whole manner of things – a measurement of distance, bait – just general amusement really.

“Yes” Missy responded flatly - “I presumed that’s what you wanted?”

Clara rolled her eyes at the lack of a satisfactory answer. It was the curse of associating with Time Lords apparently, to have to work twice as hard to get any kind of useful response. There was no point pressing Missy of all people though, it was better to just accept it and move on.

Clara smoothed her hands over her black top because it felt like it was riding up. There was a chunk of it burnt away where she had been hit by the alien weapon, but the skin felt completely unblemished. She glanced down to confirm she was unmarked – seeing nothing but her normal pale smooth skin.

“I was injured” Clara commented.

It wasn’t a question – she knew she was injured and now she wasn’t. What she wanted to know was how, although she did have an idea. There were very few things that she had come across with the Doctor that would heal someone that quickly. She could only think of one thing that would do so without leaving a mark and that was regeneration energy.

“You’re very observant today puppy” the other woman grinned.

Missy wasn’t in the mood to give her any easy answers and Clara refused to work for them. As grateful as she was for the Time Lady’s intervention, she wasn’t going to give the manic woman the satisfaction. Not when she had questions that really did need answering. Clara wasn’t sure she was going to like them though.

 

“The Doctor?” she asked – her voice hitching as she said his name.

He had always seemed so indestructible, even as an old frail man on Trenzalore. When she had left him in the UNIT corridor the Time Lord had been the most vulnerable that she had ever seen him.

“Too valuable for them to kill” Missy assured her.

Clara had been looking in the other woman’s direction during the whole conversation but not consistently at her. She paused now and observed her more thoroughly. There was no signs of dishonesty and it was unlikely Missy would lie to her or be overly confident about the situation just to make Clara feel better. That gave Clara hope.

The Time Lady raised an eyebrow at her, but Clara forced herself not to look away, holding a defiant stare. Missy simply shook her head and smiled, either amused or pleased by Clara’s attempts not to be intimidated.

The other woman elegantly rose to her feet and strode across the room to an oak side table. On it sat a tray containing two tea cups, a teapot, jug, and bowl.

“Tea?” Missy asked, her back now to Clara.

She didn’t respond but the Time Lady began to pour the steaming hot liquid into two cups anyway. Clara stopped paying too much attention to the other woman’s actions and returned her focus to the events on Earth.

“What were they…those robots?” Clara asked.

There wasn’t an immediate answer as Missy seemed focussed on her tea making duties. It was odd to see her engaged in such a domestic task as Clara was more used to see her manically dancing around or poking things with broaches and pointed sticks.

“He didn’t tell you?” Missy asked, her tone reproachful.

The Time Lady handed Clara a saucer and steaming teacup before sitting back down in her armchair with her own drink.

“We were too busy running for our lives to stop and chat about it” Clara replied defensively.

Missy had hit a nerve this time. Clara had been annoyed with the Doctor’s lack of answers, but he would never keep her in the dark to hurt her. She had seen the genuine fear in his eyes and wasn’t about to lose faith in him just because his arch frenemy (or whatever they were) wanted to verbally prod at him.

Missy didn’t comment on her reproachful response – in fact, she barely reacted at all. There was the tiniest flicker of amusement in her eyes and perhaps a twitch of upturned lips. The chaotic Time Lady loved getting a reaction out of her. Clara knew that from their conversation in the Italian Plaza before rescuing the Doctor on Skaro. Missy had asked if Danny was still tremendously dead. Clara would have loved to slap the stupid smile of the other woman’s face but had somehow remained cool and collected instead.

“They are called Kroton’s” Missy spoke up after a sip or two of tea - “nasty little things, aren’t they?”

Clara hadn’t heard of a ‘Kroton’ before and couldn’t recall the Doctor mentioning them. He had obviously dealt with them before though because he had known what was coming. She took a sip of her own tea and was shocked to find it was exactly how she liked it – strong but with quite a bit of milk and two sugars.

It was unlikely Missy would know that from spying on her and the Doctor. Usually they picked up coffee when out on adventures, so Clara was refuelled after whatever crazy exploit they had just gotten themselves into. It was creepy to think that the other woman could had been spying on her at the flat or at Coal Hill School. It was probably more likely that Missy had picked up the detail prior to Clara’s travels with the Doctor, when the Time Lady had chosen her to be the Doctor’s companion and put the two of them together. It still gave Clara a chill to think the other had been watching without her knowing.

Missy’s lips upturned more noticeably as she watched Clara visibly react to the drink and process the information. Clara knew that Time Lord’s have some telepathic ability, but the Doctor usually played that ability down. Missy on the other hand, Missy seemed to be far more perceptive or receptive than he was. It was part of what made the Time Lady unsettling in this kind of conversation.

The other woman took another sip of her drink before leaning further back in the armchair. Missy lifted her right hand, the one that wasn’t holding the cup, so her elbow was propped on the arm of the chair. Missy moved her thumb against her other fingertips, her expression thoughtful. Clara noticed the perfect unchipped black nail vanish the Time Lady was wearing. The little detail catching her interest although she wasn’t sure why.

“They may look like tin can robots, but they are sapient tellurium crystals” Missy finally continued - “technically immortal which makes them buggers to deal with.”

“But you did destroy one” Clara quizzed.

The Time Lady had disintegrated one of the Kroton’s right in front of her, the alien that Clara had been having a Mexican standoff with. She had been holding a Cyberbomb – what had happened to it? It really didn’t seem wise for one to be in the hands of a madwoman.

“Not exactly. I destroyed its shell. They can turn into a gaseous state, hunting for any machine to inhabit instead. That one I vaporised is probably rolling around the corridors of UNIT in a hoover as we speak.”   

Missy smirked as she said the last part, the idea of something sentient being stuck in a common appliance obviously pleasing her greatly. Her vibrant blue eyes seemed to light up with excitement, an enthusiasm that even drew a smile out of Clara. Missy’s smirk grew into a grin when Clara smiled, only then carrying on with her description of the aliens.

“Although they are very handy with the fire hose, they are ineffectual as an invading force unless there is access to a lot of technology. That’s how they control planets – through their computer networks and systems. They bring the planet to a shutdown, preventing any ability to communicate and form an organised response. All that is left is lots of small rebellions – easy to quash.”

Clara had seen all of that first hand – the speed at which the Kroton’s had hacked and taken over the computers had been insane. The fact they could lock out the Doctor’s sonic device, frightening. The abilities Missy had just mentioned probably explained why Clara had woken up in Earth’s history and not on another planet.

“Is that why we are here?” she asked - “because of the lack of technology?”

“Clever little human” the Time Lady chuckled.

Only Missy could compliment and insult you using just three words. At least she wasn’t being compared to someone’s pet, not yet anyway.

The other woman stood up, moving away from the armchair and towards a window with a desk in front of it. Clara watched as Missy leaned across the desk and pulled the curtains open, revealing bright sunlight. It seemed the like the curtains had been closed to allow Clara to sleep and recover, which seemed unlikely given Missy’s previous form. The last time she had woke up with Missy present she had been hanging upside down from a rock formation. It didn’t suggest a great bedside manner.

The way the light was flooding in suggested there were no other buildings around them to cast shadow, but that was the only clue Clara could spot without standing up and joining Missy at the window. That didn’t seem an option when the Time Lady plonked herself in the wooden seat by the desk and but both legs up on the desk.

“Are you going to tell me where here is?” Clara gave in and asked.

Missy had looked thoughtful after taking up her new position, staring in the direction of her propped up black booted feet. As soon as Clara spoke the other woman glanced up at her again and then out of the window.

“Kent, nineteen twenty-two” the Time Lady replied.

So, they were in a country house in rural England. The question was, why was it empty? Clara wasn’t sure she wanted to know but felt it her duty to ask anyway.

“Please tell me you didn’t kill the owners?” she cringed.

The Time Lady quirked an eyebrow at her and laughed. Well, it was more of a quiet manic giggle really.

“No dear” Missy replied drolly – “I am the owner.”

Clara gawped, open mouthed at the other woman. Missy owned a house in Kent? On Earth? The other woman must be winding her up because the idea seemed utterly fantastical. Her surprised expression only seemed to amuse the Time Lady further, so Clara forced her mouth closed and glared at the other woman instead. Missy quirked an eyebrow again, completely unmoved by her irritation.  

“I have bolt holes all over the place, this is one of them” the Time Lady added.

She wasn’t surprised that Missy had bolt holes – she just didn’t expect them on Earth. The other woman hadn’t shown any fondness for the planet or Clara’s race. In fact, all she had ever shown was disdain.

“I thought you hated human’s?” she pointed out.

“I do” Missy shrugged – “but then again I don’t really like anyone.”

Clara wondered if that was actually true. If it was then the Time Lady really had led a sad existence. Was the only person she had ever really liked the Doctor?

God, the Doctor. She had no hope of defeating the Kroton’s on her own and no idea if Missy was going to help her. The other woman was unpredictable and just because she had wanted to rescue him the last time didn’t mean she would be keen now. Missy had rescued her though, that had to be a good sign.

“How do we save him?” Clara fretted - “how do we save Earth?”

Missy lifted her left hand again and rubbed her fingers together. It seemed to be the Time Lady’s thinking pose when she was sat still. Rather than the manic dancing around that she seemed to do when on her feet.

“You’re going to have to leave that one with me” Missy sighed.

That didn’t seem promising – if a Time Lord…Lady, didn’t have a solution even though she had obviously been sat pondering during the time when Clara had been unconscious. They couldn’t just sit around thinking, it was wasting valuable time when the Doctor needed them.

“But…” she tried to protest – only to be cut off by Missy.

“We are time travellers Clara” the Time Lady sassed - “when we have a clear and effective plan then we can arrive back on Earth moments after we left.”

Missy was right and Clara knew it. That didn’t make the lack of an obvious solution any more comfortable.

“You should probably rest a bit more and change” the Time Lady stated – “I’ll show you to a bedroom.”

Clara was tempted to protest as she didn’t feel tired. However, her top had a big chunk burnt away and she was in desperate need of a wash after all that running for her life. It was a pity, she liked that top, and lord knows what Missy would have for her to wear. Clara wasn’t sure she could rock the evil Mary Poppins look quite like the Time Lady could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So three chapters in and this is where it really begins....


	4. Nota res mala, optima - An evil thing known is best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara explores Missy’s country house bolt hole, creating more and more questions about the Time Lady and few answers.

Clara had just bathed in the most amazing giant old-fashioned bath. It was freestanding on gold legs with equally elaborate gold taps. She was relieved to find that the wardrobe in the spare room was stocked with a range of blouses and jumpers. She had put her black jeans back on and added a black blouse and thin yellow jumper. It wasn’t all that different to something she would have chosen to wear herself.

When she had returned to the bedroom from the en-suite bathroom she had been surprised and slightly weirded out to find a plate on the bedside table containing a selection of breads, cold meats and cheeses. Missy had obviously been in whilst Clara had been in the bath. The Time Lady had never shown any regard for personal boundaries so it shouldn’t surprise her. The fact Missy was feeding her was more surprising. The Doctor permanently forgot that she needed to eat and sleep more than him.

Clara had headed back downstairs after polishing off the entire plate of food. The living room she had awoke in was empty, so she had headed further into the house. Just down the corridor she spotted an open door with a slight light emanating from it.

It was a smaller lounge area, a cosier space with a roaring fireplace and comfy looking armchairs. In one of the dark patterned armchairs, facing away from the door, sat Missy. Clara could only tell that someone was sitting there because the book the Time Lady was reading was peaking out around the chair, half resting on the arm rest.

Clara rapped on the door lightly, so Missy knew she was there, although the Time Lady had probably known exactly where she was in the house at all times. She entered the room and made her way to the fireplace to stand in front of the Time Lady by the empty armchair. The room was elegantly but simply decorated and felt warm – and not just because of the open fire.

“It’s a beautiful hou…” Clara trailed of mid-sentence – her words failing her when she looked at the Time Lady and not at the surroundings.

Missy wasn’t dressed in her normal attire – not at all. Instead of the governess style outfits that Clara was used to seeing her in. The other woman wore a knee length black woollen coat with what appeared to be a black dress underneath. Her legs were crossed, revealing smooth pale legs and black heels. Missy’s hair was down and flowing over her shoulders, making her look much less severe than when she had it in a tight updo.

The Time Lady looked good. Great even.

There was still an edge of danger to the look. Clara doubted Missy could lose that edge of danger even if she rocked up wearing a pink tutu. There would always be that glint in the other woman’s vibrant blue eyes – a glint that was currently highlighted by the flickering light the fire was emanating.

“Everything alright dear?” Missy asked with mock innocence.

“Yes sorry” she stammered - “you’ve erm…changed.”

Clara felt heat rising to her cheeks and it wasn’t just from her proximity to the fireplace. She hoped the Time Lady didn’t notice her blush as that would undoubtedly amuse Missy even more. The last thing she wanted was for the other woman to think flashing a bit of leg would provide some sort of alluring power over her. It had just caught her off guard that was all, Clara would never be attracted to someone so…bananas.

Clara shifted awkwardly from foot to foot under Missy’s scrutiny, relieved when the other woman finally smirked and looked back down at her book. It seemed to be a factual tone rather than a novel so hopefully the other woman was researching and not relaxing.

“Formed a plan yet?” Clara pressed.

Missy pushed a decorative metal bookmark into the section she was reading and snapped the book closed a little more dramatically than required.

“I know what we need to hack back into the computers, I just don’t currently know how we are going to get it without being burnt to a crisp or captured” the Time Lady grumbled.

“Yet” the other woman added a few seconds later.

Clara could tell that it was irritating the other woman that she didn’t have answers. Missy had enjoyed lording it over on Skaro because she knew what was going on and Clara was just hanging onto her coat tails. The Doctor had accidently described Missy as an ‘egotistical needy game player’ post regeneration. It had annoyed Clara that he had thought he was describing her. It fitted far more when they had later discovered that the Time Lady had been the one pulling the strings.

It couldn’t be doing Missy’s ego any good to not have answers now and it therefore wasn’t easy to control the situation like a game. Clara suspected that’s why the other woman had changed into something a little less conservative. If she couldn’t put Clara on edge by pushing her down twenty-foot drops or handcuffing her to the Dalek sewers as bait, then she needed another way to keep Clara on her toes. That and the fact she was only giving half answers. That was the ‘needy’ part. The attention had to be on Missy.

Clara would love to ignore both of Missy’s plays, but she had already gawped and fallen victim to one and she wanted clarity on the other.

“Are you going to share?” she asked calmly.

“Do you think you’d understand dear?” Missy smirked - “it might go over you pretty little human head.”

Clara wasn’t reacting as much as the Time Lady would like so the insults were back. Only this insult contained a blink and you could miss it compliment. Clara wasn’t going to be swayed or redirected by that compliment and simply rolled her eyes in response.

The lack of reaction drew a pleased smile from the other woman. The Time Lady obviously taking pleasure out of testing the boundaries. Clara still felt like she had achieved a small victory when Missy finally began to explain.

“The Kroton’s are so effective because they work as a synchronised unit to hack into every bit of technology. Think of the Borg in Star Trek. That means they use a complicated string of code – a base code – that unifies all the systems under their control.”

“You’ve watched Star Trek?” Clara asked when Missy paused to draw breath.

The Doctor made Earth pop culture references but then he was a giant nerd who seemed to regularly travel with humans. Clara alone had introduced him to ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, ‘Jonathan Creek’, ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’. Missy…she just wasn’t like the Doctor at all. Clara could picture her reading a good book over a cup of tea or running around causing mayhem. Nothing else computed.

The other woman completely disregarded the question and continued with her explanation. Clara was almost a little disappointed not to have her curiosity sated.

“A sonic device can’t work through the trillions of possibilities fast enough before the Kroton’s start to try and hack it” Missy explained - “at which point any sonic device will shut itself down as a defence mechanism.”

That’s exactly what the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses had done when Clara had tried to hack into the UNIT system on Earth. The TARDIS had run off and the sonic had shutdown. Both had seemed very inconvenient at the time but if either had been hacked by the Kroton’s then the results could have been disastrous.

If they couldn’t use a sonic device to hack into this base code, then they had to get it by some other means. Preferable when not in the middle of an invasion. Her ‘pretty little human brain’ was perfectly capable of keeping up.

“So, we need to get hold of the Kroton code somehow, before returning to Earth” Clara stated.

Missy slowly clapped her hands together in mock congratulations. It made Clara’s heckles rise a little but not enough to draw a reaction from her other than an eye roll.

“Now go scarper and let the adult cerebrate” the other woman mocked.

That nearly did draw a reaction. Clara even opened her mouth to point out that the Time Lady had been thinking it over for hours with no success, but she jammed it shut again before any sound came out. If Missy wanted to sit in here procrastinating, then Clara would use the opportunity to explore the rest of the house properly.

This was Missy’s bolt hole – a home of sorts, albeit one of many. There was little chance of getting Missy to say anything revealing about herself. Most of what came out of the other woman’s mouth was insulting. No, If Clara wanted to learn anything about the Time Lady, then exploring the spaces she resided in was Clara’s best bet.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara had taken a closer look at the larger sitting room first, the one she had woken up in. She had noticed the décor earlier, in a vaguer general way, but took the opportunity to look more closely at the ornaments and portraits. The room wasn’t jam packed with items or clutter, not like in the National Trust homes she had visited of the same era. Missy had a few Stafford Willow White and Blue patterned vases. A beautiful antique dark wood mantle clock sat above the fireplace. The few portraits that lined the walls were landscapes – oil paintings possibly by Constable or at least in his style.

It didn’t really give her any clues into the mystery of Missy. It was all very…normal. That was the one thing she was sure the Time Lady wasn’t.

So, Clara had moved on into the next room, which turned out to be a library. That was a bit more exciting because as an English teacher, Clara had a soft spot for a room full of books. It was wooden panelled with bookcases making up the entirety of three of the walls. The other wall sat behind the reading desk and had a large sash window and a couple of low bookcases.

On either side of the window there was a tribal mask on the wall as art work. Clara couldn’t claim to know where or when they were from, but they had delicate carved features. At least two thirds of the books were factual books. Everything from history to Geography and languages to philosophy. The third wall contained novels and books of poetry. There were old copies of Milton, Dante Alighieri, Austin, Bronte, Dickens, Tolstoy, Wilde, Dumas and many more. Some of the classical writers like Homer, Euripides and Ovid. There seemed to be the entire collection of Shakespeare, both tragedies and comedies, and a surprising amount of poetry.  

She ran her fingers across the leather-bound books of poetry, delighting in the feel of the leather binding. Clara loved books, properly bound real books. She didn’t understand the appeal of reading a novel or any work of literature on a kindle or tablet. The weight of the book and the turning of the pages – it was all part of the experience.

She extracted a copy of John Keats ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ from the shelf at her waist level. She placed it flat on her left hand and ran her right hand over the brown peeling cover.

“Do you enjoy the feel of leather poppet?” a voice suggestively rang out behind her.

Clara nearly jumped out of her skin and she spun around to face Missy. She was so distracted that she didn’t hear the Time Lady enter the room behind her.

“You like poetry?” Clara asked – choosing to ignore the other woman’s initial comment.

Missy was rifling through some books on a shelf near the door, in the geology section if Clara remembered correctly. She seemed to locate the book she was looking for and pulled it out, tucking it between her arm and her chest. When she turned back towards Clara the Time Lady grinned in a less maniacal way than normal – this was more of a cheeky smile. It suited her.

“The rhythmical creation of beauty” the Time Lady quoted Edgar Allen Poe.

The reply completely threw Clara, which was probably Missy’s intent. The other woman was gone before Clara had a chance to comment, sauntering out of the room with a confident swing in her step. She shook her head, a smile creeping upon her lips even though she didn’t want to be amused by the other woman.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Missy had taken the book back to the sitting room, leaving her guest to continue her snooping. She didn’t mind really, if Clara thought she could un-pick her that easily then the younger woman would be sorely disappointed.

Missy was too busy looking for a solution to their little dilemma anyway. It was hysterically funny to her that she was having to rescue the Doctor for a second time in only a matter of months. On the other hand, she was worried about him. She hated him, but she kind of loved him as well. Missy cared less about the fate of Earth, but the Doctor would care and so did Clara.

She quite liked Clara. That’s why she had chosen her for the Doctor. Pretty, intelligent (for a human), determined, egotistical and an out and out thrill seeker. There was a hard streak in the young brunette that appealed to Missy.

The Time Lady hadn’t sat down since re-entering the sitting room. She stood by the mantlepiece, flicking through the pages of the book, seeking out specific information. Suddenly the electric lights in the room flickered like they might go off, but then nothing happened. It was an old house – it wasn’t normal for them to do that, but it wasn’t unusual either. Earth had its charms, but it was hardly the technological leaders of the galaxy, and certainly not in the early twentieth century. They had barely moved passed oil lamps.

What was unusual, was the breeze that seemed to roll through the house and blow the candles out on the sideboard behind her.

“Ah, well that can’t be good” the Time Lady stated to herself.

Missy went to the half open doorway and peered around the heavy wooden door. It felt notably cooler now and that wasn’t because of a few less candles.

They were not alone in the house and whatever had joined them had caused a slight atmospheric disturbance, probably via time travel. Not the kind of Altron energy-based Time Travel that her vortex manipulator or a TARDIS used. Air disturbance like that was probably caused by something phasing in and out of time. There were very few things or creatures who could achieve that and none of them were very friendly.

“Clara” the Time Lady worried.

She grabbed the small rucksack she had packed in case of emergencies of the floor from behind the armchair. Well it looked small, but it was dimensionally engineered – bigger on the inside. Two vortex manipulators were fastened around the right strap.

Hopefully, Clara was still trying to decipher her by feeling up poetry books in the library.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara was just exiting the library when the light in both the room she was leaving, and the corridor she was entering, flickered off and on again.

The corridor appeared empty, but she didn’t feel alone. In fact, there was a distinctive chill in the air, and it wasn’t just because she had taken the yellow jumper off, so she was merely wearing the black blouse. The house hadn’t felt like that before the lights flickered, it had been surprisingly cosy. People often spoke about how the air around them chilled during a haunting, but she had never really believed in ghosts. After travelling with the Doctor, she was certain they didn’t exist.

Clara slowly stepped further down the corridor, away from the direction she had come from. She had no idea what rooms lay this way, but she did feel like it was the direction the strange presence was emanating from. She had only gone a few paces when the electric lights went off completely, plunging the hall into darkness. It wasn’t pitch black, but it was still hard to see where she was going and what was surrounding her.

There was a brass candle stick with three candles on the sideboard next to where she was stood, she had seen it before the lights went out. She grasped it and felt about on the side table, locating a book of matches. It took her a few seconds to light the candles and it barely gave her any more light than before. She angled the light down the corridor. At first, she thought the space ahead of her was empty, so turned around and started to walk back towards the library.

Clara felt, rather than heard, something moving a little distance away behind her. She swung around and shone the candles in the direction she thought the movement had come from. Her heart was hammering in her chest – her adrenaline levels rocketing up. There didn’t appear to be anything there. She was just about to turn back around when something flashed across the end of the corridor. Clara couldn’t see what it was – but she wasn’t alone.

Clara turned and ran back towards the library, candle stick still in hand. She reached the door of the library just as Missy appeared from the other direction. The Time Lady was still wearing a black dress (at some point the coat had been shed) but had a black rucksack slung over her shoulder. Clara reached out to the other woman on instinct, closing her hand around Missy’s slender wrist.

“Something is here” she gasped.

The Time Lady looked over Clara’s shoulder before slipping her wrist out of Clara’s grasp, only to grab the younger woman’s hand. Missy pulled her back into the library and all the way over to the desk. There, Clara was very indelicately man handled to the floor, so they were both sat, hidden on the floor with their backs to the heavy wooden desk. She was used to fleeing from trouble, hand in hand with a Time Lord – its just that the Doctor was a little bit more gentlemanly about it.

“They have tracked us” Missy hissed.

The Time Lady handed her one of the Vortex manipulators as she spoke. Clara strapped it to her wrist, just as the other woman was doing with her own.

“But there is no technology here?” Clara challenged.

The Time Lady had said they needed technology to be affective invaders, so why would the Kroton’s follow them to the nineteen twenties? Why would they follow them at all? Did they want Missy? They already had one Time Lord captured, where they trying to complete the set?

Missy leant across her body and grasped her right upper arm. Clara hissed in pain – Missy had pressed on the mystery lump where the Kroton had fired something into her as they were escaping.

“The crystal in your arm” the Time Lady half explained.

“What?” Clara asked – her voice raising in volume.

The other woman hadn’t mentioned anything about having a crystal embedded in her arm when Clara had woken up. Why hadn’t Missy extracted it when healing the wound on her side?

“Shhh” the Time Lady firmly hushed her – “I want to see what has followed us.”

Clara was really confused now. Surely it was a Kroton that had followed them? Even though she hadn’t been able to see what was moving at the end of the corridor, in hindsight it was clear it wasn’t one of the crystalline robots. Otherwise she would have probably been burnt to a crisp by that nasty weapon the Kroton’s wielded.

There was a faint sound in the doorway and Missy craned her head around the desk to see what was there. Clara leant the other way so she could get a clear view too. There, in the doorway stood such a strange looking creature that she wasn’t even sure how to describe it. It was completely white and almost angel like with its large wings and ethereal feel to it. It was less human looking than an angel though, its physical features more robot like, yet it clearly was organic and not synthesised.

Clara didn’t have a chance to stare at it for longer than a few seconds before Missy grabbed at her arm and pulled her upright again, so they were shoulder to shoulder. The Time Lady looked genuinely scared which didn’t bode well at all.

“Time to go” Missy hissed.

The other woman pressed the top of her Time Vortex Manipulator, which was obviously linked to the one Clara was wearing, because her stomach instantly lurched as that horrible spinning feeling returned.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated.


	5. Omnium rerum principia parva sunt: The beginnings of all things are small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy’s rushed time hop leaves them in medieval Kent, about as far away from technology as they can get. Unfortunately, it isn’t far away from trouble and they find themselves in the middle of a medieval feud.

The spinning stopped just as suddenly as it started and Clara bent over, heaving like she might be sick. Luckily no vomit came and after several unpleasant seconds those waves of nausea passed. When she straightened up, she found that she was stood next to Missy in quite a pretty glade of trees. The Time Lady looked pristine, like they hadn’t just been spun around the Time Vortex like clothes in a washing machine.

“You get used to it” Missy grinned.

Clara wasn’t sure she could ever get used to the sensation. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to. Then again if they were going to be pursued through time and space by some sort of freaky alien then perhaps it would be more frequent than she would like.

“What was that?” Clara asked.

The image of Missy’s face just before they left – Clara had seen that look of fear as the planet Skaro had been revealed to them. If the Time Lady looked equally worried as she did then, on the planet of the Daleks, then they were up against something very dangerous.

“A Chronovore I think” the other woman replied quietly.

Clara hadn’t heard of them before. Like the Kroton’s, it wasn’t a race she had come across in her travels with the Doctor – or heard him speak of. The confusion must have been apparent on her face because Missy took a deep breath before launching into an explanation.

“They are transcendental beings, capable of phasing in and out of time using the time vortex or the Six-Fold-Realm. They are like vampires, feeding on the moments of choice – the bastard children of the Eternals. If the Kroton’s have dominion over a Chronovore then we will not be able to stay in one place for long.”

Clara only understood half of what the Time Lady said but she could interpret enough. They could move through space, potentially feed off the two women and it sounded an awful lot like they would be immortal. It also sounded like Missy was quite familiar with them.

“You’ve met one before?” she asked.

Missy side eyed her, whilst also looking around their surroundings. Clara thought she was going to ignore the question entirely but then the other woman flung her arms in the air dramatically.

“I thought I could control one once, a long time ago” the Time Lady shrugged - “I couldn’t – obviously.”

Clara couldn’t tell if the ostentatious hand gesture was to hide the other woman’s embarrassment at the past failure or a little awkwardness at the fact the failure was probably part of a dastardly evil plan. It was probably the former, as Missy had previously seemed quite comfortable revelling in her apparent evilness.

Clara wasn’t convinced the Time Lady truly was evil – or not completely. Missy had saved the Doctor on Skaro and had saved Clara twice before then trying to get her killed. Had she ever really been at risk though from the Doctor? Or was Missy confident of his inability to shoot a Dalek that refused to fire on him and Clara’s own ability to talk her way out of trouble? Had it just been mischief and not murder?

Then there was the fact that the other woman had rescued her from the Kroton’s and again from this Chronovore. It was likely that it was not tracking Missy, only Clara – therefore it would be easier for the Time Lady to drop her like a hot stone and rescue the Doctor on her own. That didn’t currently seem like Missy’s plan, to which Clara was obviously very grateful.

The other woman was on the move again, practically skipping around the grove looking at the vegetation and surroundings. The Time Lady pulled a leaf off one of the trees and bit into it, chewing on a mouthful of it before spitting it back out again. The excessive movement looked odder on Missy when clothed in an ordinary black knee length dress. The evil Mary Poppins look suited that energy much better – although this black dress flattered the other woman more.

“Where are we?” Clara asked – trying to direct her thought’s away from Missy’s physical figure.

The other woman swung around to face her and grinned. Missy looked like she might actually be enjoying the fact they were in such a perilous situation – scared and a little excited. If Clara was being totally honest, that is exactly how she felt too.

“The same place we were before – just in the twelfth century” Missy explained.

Clara supposed that the Time Lady hadn’t had much time to programme a new location into the Vortex manipulators. She did wonder if it would make them easier to locate for this ‘Chronovore’. There were still plenty of questions Clara wanted to ask, starting with the crystal that was apparently embedded in her arm like a tracking device.

It didn’t look like those answers would be forthcoming any time soon as Missy started to walk away and out of the glade. Clara was starting to understand that eking information out of the other woman a bit at a time would be more effective than quizzing her and demanding answers. It was infuriating, but then Clara was used to infuriating – she travelled with the Doctor after all.

When she didn’t instantly follow, the Time Lady stopped and turned back to glare at her. From the look on the other woman’s face it was clear that the fact Clara hadn’t instantly chased after her like a pet dog had irked her.

“That smoke is probably a village” Missy explained like Clara was a simpleton - “so come on, chopperty chop.”

She hadn’t even noticed the faint wisps of smoke floating over the tree line, making the Time Lady’s derisive tone hit home a little harder. Clara scowled at her, but the other woman merely rolled her eyes like she was a misbehaving child. Missy turned away again and started to walk so Clara followed her, dragging her feet and trailing behind for the first thirty seconds before giving in and jogging to catch up. The other woman grinned when Clara fell into step next to her but didn’t comment.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

As soon as they had reached the village – and been greeted with some trepidation but also with kindness – Missy had slinked off into an offered thatched hut to change. Clara had been offered a brown suede waistcoat to wear over her blouse by the man who seemed to speak for the village which she was grateful for as the air had a slight chill to it. He was called Noah and was probably a similar age to Clara, brunette and could be classed as handsome despite the large scar on his chin.  

She had sat nearby an open fire in the middle of the village where two of the female villagers appeared to be making everyone some kind of broth or stew. Clara had been sat there for at least thirty minutes, taking in what was happening around her. Noah seemed to be directing others in the village as they set about a number of tasks. There were smithies making and repairing swords, men making long bows and arrows, women covering logs with fleece and some sort of grease that she guessed was animal fat.

Noah came back towards her and took a seat on the log next to her, passing her a cup of what smelt like and looked like watered down ale. She was thirsty, but she wasn’t sure she was THAT thirsty. Still, it would be rude not to drink it, so she took a large mouthful and tried to hide her distaste at the liquid.

“You look like you are preparing for war” she stated.

He looked troubled and thoughtful, turning his own cup around and around in his two hands.

“Not war exactly” Noah sighed - “We have not paid our feudal taxes. Not through any mischief but because the village is poor, and people are barely able to get by. We simply cannot raise the number of shillings required.”

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, Clara understood what that meant. The village would be visited by the Kings soldiers to claim the taxes and if they were not given willingly then the soldiers would try to take them. This village planned to fight back – something she couldn’t picture in ending in anything other than disaster.

“That’s terrible” Clara remarked.

As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure stood just a few feet away, leaning casually on the corner of the nearest building. Missy had changed back into her more normal attire, this time in the purple Clara was more used too, with her hair back up in and styled again. She had never thought the look was practical before, but it was certainly more practical than the little black dress and heels Missy had been sporting. Although, she had been impressed by how well Missy had strode out across the uneven ground in those heels.

“I served my King and country and fought at Alnwick against the Scots” Noah spoke – drawing her attention back to him - “only I and one of the other villagers have ever seen battle before.”

The situation sounded even more hopeless, but Clara was used to being in hopeless situations with the Doctor. The problem was, he was usually there to dig everyone out of the hole with his bonkers last-minute schemes.

Noah downed his drink in one go and placed the cup on the ground by his feet. He then climbed to his feet and faced Clara. Noah looked very serious and she looked up at him, curious about what he may say next.

“You are welcome to stay tonight, but at first light you should leave before the Kings men arrive” he said kindly.

Noah walked away, back to the other villagers who were still feverously working away at their preparations. Clara watched him walk away before turning her attentions to Missy, who had obviously heard the whole thing. The Time Lady was currently using a knife to cut a slice out of a rosy red apple that she had either been given or helped herself to. Clara recognised the knife, it was the one the other woman had been using to sharpen her pointed stick on Skaro. Clara hadn’t thought about it at the time, but afterwards she had mused that Missy had a sharp knife but had chosen to use a stick and a broach to fight the Dalek’s with instead.

The Time Lady popped the piece of apple into her mouth and chewed as she pushed off the wall. Clara watched the other woman approach and take a seat on the log next to the one Clara sat on. Missy angled her body towards the younger woman and demurely crossed her logs, managing to look elegant and refined despite the lowly surroundings, and directed a reproachful look in Clara’s direction.

“No” the Time Lady simply stated.

Apparently, Clara’s intentions were written across her face – or it was just obvious that after traveling with the Doctor that she would want and expect to help.

“Missy” Clara protested.

The Time Lady looked back down at the apple and began to cut out another slice, shaking her head as she did so. If this was the Doctor, Clara would know exactly what to say to make him relent. She would bat her eyelashes, gaze at him with her big brown eyes and point out how everyone would die unless he helped. Clara suspected the latter wouldn’t bother Missy in the slightest and the former would only irritate her.

“I’m not the Doctor, I don’t ride around in my magic box saving worlds and taking names” the Time Lady sniped.

Clara could only roll her eyes and look away. She was well aware of the differences between the two Time Lords and that they were vast.

“I’m a bad bitch” Missy added – flourishing her words with an infuriating smirk.

If this was just about the other woman upholding her reputation as the queen of evil, then it left Clara ill humoured. Perhaps she had allowed her view of the other woman to soften too much due to her well timed and gallant rescue on Earth.

“Then you can leave, and I’ll stay on my own and help them” she chided.

Missy seemed more amused than offended by her irritable tone which only irritated Clara more.

“Oh, Clara Oswald” the Time Lady chuckled - “always wanting to play the hero.”

Clara looked away and tried to hide her disappointment. It would have probably frustrated her less if Missy’s tone had mocked her but instead there was almost a fondness there, like Missy found it cute or endearing. She had no idea how to take the conversation forward effectively, so instead she stood up and walked away in the direction of the treeline and the glade they had arrived in. She knew it was churlish, but right now what she needed was space and room to think.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara had waltzed off to the clearing in the woods and sat down in the meadow grass. It was a good chance to collect her thoughts and collate together all the information Missy had shared with her. Then she had made a mental list of all the things the Time Lady was yet to share.

The light was starting to fade but she was still reluctant to return to the settlement. The helplessness of their situation upset her but also reminded her of the fact her own situation was pretty hopeless. She was entirely reliant on Missy to help her, protect her and save the Doctor. That wasn’t a comfortable position to be in, not when the other woman was so interchangeable.

Clara was also disappointed in herself for hoping for more from the Time Lady. It was something the Doctor was guilty of and it had previously baffled her. She was starting to understand now that as soon as Missy showed you a little kindness it became like an addiction.

Just as she was contemplating the mysteries of the eccentric Time Lady, Missy appeared in the clearing. She halted a little distance away from Clara and clasped her hands together in front of her body. The Time Lady actually looked a little apprehensive about approaching her, which was a novelty because usually Missy was all for getting up into your personal space.

“Come back to the village, it’s getting dark and these woods may not be safe at night” the other woman instructed.

Clara knew that Missy was right and that she should return to the village, but she also didn’t want the other woman to think she could snap her fingers and Clara would do exactly what she said.

“I suppose it would disappoint you if somebody else had the pleasure of killing me” she sniped.

She was being petty, and it drew a dramatic eyeroll from the other woman. Missy opened her mouth, obviously to say something equally as snarky back, but resisted at the last second. Instead Missy lifted her joined hands to chest height and gazed down at them thoughtfully.

“Clara” the Time Lady sighed – “if I wanted you dead, I would have done it myself on Skaro…or I would have left you snivelling in a corner on Earth.”

There was no malice in her tone but there was a sort of uncomfortable irritation. In admitting that she had no desire to kill Clara, Missy was giving away a little of her power and dominance over the situation. Of course, Clara didn’t doubt that the other woman could change her mind in an instant. Missy had flittered so quickly between friend and foe on Skaro that Clara had been in danger of getting whiplash.

“Come back to the village…please” Missy repeated a little kindlier than before.

It caught Clara by surprise because the tone was completely unrecognisable. It was softer than Missy’s usual Scottish brogue and more genuine.

The Time Lady stepped forward, so she was virtually standing over Clara and reached out her hand for the younger woman to take. Clara looked at the hand blankly for a few seconds before reaching out to grasp it, allowing Missy to help pull her up to her feet.

The Time Lady smiled a toothless smile before releasing her hand and turning away. Clara watched her walk away for a few paces, marvelling at how quickly she had given when Missy had softened. It was just what she had been musing about earlier – that a little bit of kindness from the other woman was enrapturing.

Clara may have yielded over returning to the village, but she wasn’t ready to completely give up on their earlier conversation – the one that had led to her storming off into the woods. Missy had reached the tree line when Clara decided to go for broke.

“I don’t want you to be the Doctor” Clara called after the other woman.

The Time Lady stopped walking but didn’t turn around to face her. The fact Missy paused though meant that Clara had her attention and that was enough to encourage her to continue. She stepped slowly towards the other woman as she spoke.

“I’m not expecting you to travel the universe picking fights with every bit of evil that comes your way, but by chance we are here now, and I don’t believe that is by coincidence” she pushed.

The Time Lady did turn then to regard Clara, leaning back against the nearest trunk of a tree. Her expression did give much away other than the fact she was considering Clara’s words. She took another couple of steps, so she was only a couple of feet away from the other woman.

“There plight maybe helpless, they may die the next day or in a week or a month but please, help me give them tomorrow?” Clara pleaded.

The younger woman watched as Missy raised a hand to her chin and rubbed the back of her fingers across her lips in contemplation. There was a slight eye roll as Missy looked away to the right, staring out across the glade. Clara kept looking straight at the other woman, waiting for some response other than silence.

Finally, Missy turned her head and made eye contact, dropping her hands back down to her sides. The Time Lady’s eyes scanned Clara, flickering down and up again with the slightest upturn of her lips. She already had more questions than answers about Missy and the softening in the other woman’s look that Clara was witnessing, well it just created even more mystery.

“Those pretty big brown eyes of yours are going to get me into all kinds of trouble Clara Oswald” the Time Lady sighed – but that slight smile was still present.

Clara couldn’t hide her smile – both at the compliment and the obvious implication. Had Missy just agreed to help her? The Time Lady had certainly just acknowledged some sort of physical attraction which was odd but nice. Oddly nice. It probably shouldn’t be though, so Clara shook the thought off.

“Is that a yes?" she grinned.

Missy simply rolled her eyes in response and raised her hand to point back in the direction of the medieval settlement.

“Back to the village” the Time Lady instructed - “apparently I have a battle to orchestrate.”

 Clara wasn’t going to argue with that. She swaggered pass the other woman, throwing Missy a smirk over her shoulder as she went. The Time Lady rolled her eyes yet again and followed on behind. Clara had learnt something interesting this evening – the Doctor wasn’t the only Time Lord she could bend to her will by fluttering her eyelashes. The trick would probably work less with Missy, but the fact it worked at all was fascinating.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy had turned into a Sergeant Major on return to the village and had made them dig four small pits between the village and the woodland. She had also picked out some archery posts in the tree line.

The Time Lady was creating a shooting gallery. The archers would fire down into the land leading into the village from two directions – from the buildings in front of the attacking soldiers and then the trees. The attacking soldiers would then try to spread and circle the village, only to turn into men emerging from the pits with pitchforks and spear like instruments that could force them down from the horses.

It was a good plan and Clara could tell that Noah was impressed. Clara had managed a few hours’ sleep once it had gone dark. Her and Missy had been offered the use of Noah’s hut, whilst he shared with another family. The Time Lady had still been out making preparations when Clara had gone to sleep. At some point in the night, Clara had briefly awoken and found that Missy was resting just a few feet away. She had no idea if the Time Lady was asleep or just resting her eyes, but she was sat on the floor, propped upright by the wall and with a rough blanket wrapped around her.

Clara had felt a bit guilty that there was nowhere comfy for the other woman to lay down, but it would have been weird to offer up a space on the surprisingly comfortable straw mattress next to her. It was barely wider than a modern single bed so there would be actual bodily contact involved. Lord knows what kind of sordid comments Missy would have made and Clara didn’t think she could trust the other woman to be so physically close to her. It would be like getting into bed with a python.

Then the morning had come. Clara had been awake as soon as it was light, mainly because she could hear the other villagers clattering around. Missy was no longer in the hut when she woke up – already out bossing the villagers around again. When Clara had joined them, many of the villagers looked surprised when she picked up a sword. From what Noah said, she probably had more experience of being in battle than everyone else present except Missy. She doubted the Time Lady had too many experiences of sword battles either.

It wasn’t long after first light that the villager on lookout in the forest had come sprinting back, screaming that the soldiers were coming. Missy and Clara hung back out of sight in the village whilst Noah walked out to meet the soldiers just outside of the villagers, in the shooting gallery. There was around twenty of them, all wearing chain armour and on horseback. Clara had feared there would be more, making their task harder to achieve. Twenty felt manageable if all went to plan, but if the plan failed then they would be overrun quickly.

Whatever conversation Noah had with one of the soldiers was a short one and after half a minute, he raised his hand above his head. It was the signal for the archers on the rooftops to make themselves visible. In an ideal world, the soldiers would leave at this point, not desiring to raise the village to the ground in search of taxes. It wasn’t an ideal world though and the solder dropped back to the others, clearly preparing to fight. Noah dropped back too, returning to the edge of the village.

When the soldiers began to charge, there was a hail of arrow fire from the rooftops and the trees. It had the desired effect, taking out eight of the soldiers in one foul swoop and causing the offers to scatter. As planned, villagers appeared out of the pits, trying to funnel the soldiers back into the firing range of the archers. Some were pushed back, at the mercy of the villager’s arrows, whilst several broke free and rode into the settlement.

The fighting broke out around them, with villagers trying to force the soldiers down from their horses so they were easier to fight. Whilst Clara and Missy were trying to keep track of those soldiers, neither of them had noticed a soldier approaching from their shooting gallery until he was virtually on top of Missy. His horse had obviously been shot by the archers but not the soldier.

Clara felt like it was all happening in slow motion. He raised his sword to strike at Missy, just as the Time Lady tried to dodge backwards, desperately scrabbling in her pocket for her sonic device (which unlike the Doctor’s was also a weapon). Clara’s reactions kicked in and she charged forward, blocking the blow with her own sword and pushing him back. If Missy had to use the sonic then no doubt the Chronovore would be upon them and the villagers in seconds.

He swung his sword again and Clara parried it, before catching him off guard by punching him square in the nose with her left fist. It probably wasn’t a hard punch, but it landed in the right place and caught him by surprise.  He staggered back a step, allowing her to strike him across the chest with the flat part of her blade. It was designed to wind him as she was no killer and he bend over double in pain. That gave her the opportunity to use the hilt of the sword to smack him over the head, knocking him clean unconscious.

Clara swung around, checking for any more danger and that the Time Lady was okay. The villagers seemed to be on top of the other soldiers and Missy was stood unharmed a few feet away with her sonic in hand and her jaw dropped in surprise. Clara had no idea if the other woman was surprised by her sword fighting skills, or the fact she had saved Missy’s life.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

There had been no time to talk after Clara had rescued the other woman. Ten minutes later, stood in the middle of the settlement with many relieved and victorious villagers surrounding them, it was finally calm enough for them to talk.

She approached the Time Lady, holding her tongue despite the temptation to brag. The truce they seemed to have fallen into would no doubt be damaged if she did. Missy looked like she was expecting some sort of remark though and with a dipped head, watched Clara through half lidded eyelashes.

When she didn’t make any remark and merely stood shoulder to shoulder with the other woman to survey the blessedly minimal destruction, the Time Lady straightened up and returned to her more recognisable cocky self.

“Wield swords often when travelling with the Doctor?” Missy chuckled.

Three years ago, Clara would have never dreamed she would be able to say she was quite proficient at sword fighting. There had been several occasions to brush up the skill recently, including a trip across France with Joan of Arc. The feminist in Clara had been thrilled by that one.

“Surprisingly often” the younger woman grinned.

Missy turned her head, so she was looking at Clara and quirked an eyebrow. Piercing blue eyes scanned down Clara’s body again to the sword still clasped in her hand. It drew a slight blush to the brunettes face so she looked away from the Time Lady quickly. No doubt Missy had caught the change in her demeanour as she rarely seemed to miss anything.

“Ever thought you may enjoy danger just a little too much?” the Time Lady asked.

Clara wasn’t sure if it was a serious question or if Missy was mocking her. The Doctor had told her recently that it was an escalating problem, her desire to throw herself head first into every situation regardless of the risk. She had found it strange considering that is what you did when travelling with the Doctor – you travelled knowing you would be in risky situations. It was true that in her early days of travelling with him she found herself in dangerous situations whereas more often or not she went looking for them now. Clara had just considered it to be character growth, but he had seemed worried. He always seemed worried about losing her nowadays and she suspected it was his single biggest fear.

She didn’t respond to Missy’s comment, happy to mull the notion over in her head without giving too much away. When she glanced back at the other woman, she realised that Missy had been watching her like a hawk the entire time. It was hard to be annoyed with the Time Lady at the moment though – not when the plan she had created with General like efficiency had worked and very few of the villagers had been killed or even hurt.

“Thank you” Clara said sincerely – turning her body to completely face the other woman – “for helping.”

It caught Missy off guard. The Time Lady looked at her in surprise before dipping her head again and looking down to the side. Clara noticed the way Missy shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and she could swear there was the slightest pinkening of the Time Lady’s cheeks. Clara wondered how often those words had been said with genuine feeling towards the other woman – how often had they been said at all?

 The awkwardness Missy was portraying was almost endearing and her expression was more open than normal. It softened the Time Lady’s features and combined with the stray dark auburn curl that had escaped and fallen over her forehead it made her look more human. Clara even dared to openly consider that it made her more beautiful. There was always a strange inexplicable attractiveness in the other woman’s dark, confident and dangerous persona. Attraction to the woman stood in front of her right now – it felt less inexplicable – which probably made it even more dangerous. It was a bit like wanting to cuddle a polar bear. They looked cute and fluffy, but it was never going to end well.  

“We should probably get going before the Chronovore finds us again” Missy spoke up – obviously keen to divert the attention away from herself - “it will be harder for it to track us if we keep moving.”

Clara knew it made sense. Part of her wanted to stay and celebrate with the villagers even for a short while but they had lingered too long already. Lord knows how one of those creatures rocking up in a medieval village could affect Earth’s history.

She pushed the tip of the swords blade into the ground, so it was standing independently of her and stepped away from it. Clara hoped there would be no need for it wherever they went next. Missy stepped closer to her, so they were side by side again, typing coordinates into the Vortex Manipulator as she moved.

“Let’s try something a little more luxurious this time hey?” the Time Lady smirked.

Clara was sure Missy was ribbing her about being an adrenaline junkie again, but she didn’t get a chance to respond. The Time Lady had activated the Vortex Manipulator without warning, and they were very suddenly hurtling and spinning again.


	6. Mors ultima ratio - Death has the last word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy takes Clara on the Orient Express, hopeful that the fact its constantly moving will make them more difficult to locate. The Time Lady is expecting twenty four hours of luxury but is quickly learning that, like the Doctor, trouble follows Clara wherever she goes.

They came to a sudden stop, but Clara still felt like she was spinning. Her legs felt like they may buckle again, and she wrapped both arms around the nearest solid thing to her to keep her upright – Missy.

“I know I brought us to a bedroom, but this is a little forward dear” the Time Lady said in a seductive tone – her lips far too close to Clara’s ear for comfort.

Missy’s hands were grasping her hips to keep her upright and Clara tried to pull away. Her legs were still wobbly, and she found herself pulled back against the other woman to keep her upright again. This time she could actually see the Time Lady’s face and the look of utter glee at the awkward physical contact.

Clara gritted her teeth and stopped resisting. As she suspected, when she no longer seemed to be fighting the contact, Missy released the grip on her. Her legs were a little shaky still, but Clara was still able to step away and glare at the Time Lady.

“A little warning next time” she grumbled.

Clara very much doubted notice of travel would make the journey any less vomit inducing but that just wasn’t the point. It would simply be nice if the Time Lady informed her before flinging them through time and space.

They were not in the great outdoors this time but in a small cabin like bedroom. The room, though small, was lavishly decorated. The bed, which Missy had just deposited herself on, has lavish looking cream sheets. Now she was paying more attention to her surrounding Clara noted that there was a low chugging sound like a train and that they were not stationary but moving. It was no wonder she felt like she had sea legs of arrival.

“Where are we?” she asked the other woman.

Missy was sat on the edge of the bed, leaning back onto both hands, with her legs crossed demurely in front of her. There was a sexy smirk plastered on the Time Lady’s face, making the whole scene look like a vision from a dream – or the trickery before a dream descended into a nightmare.

Clara visibly swallowed as she tried to look anywhere else in the room but at the woman lounging in front of her. She could feel Missy’s eyes on her – watching her – no doubt enjoying the awkwardness and the blushes caused.

“The Orient Express” the Time Lady finally responded - “probably somewhere between Vienna and Budapest.”

The outside wall was lined by windows, covered by beige blinds. Clara pulled the cord of the blind closest to her and wound it up so she could look outside the window. They were in mountainous terrain, a layer of snow for as far as the eye could see. The scenery was as beautiful as the cabin was lavish. She had always wanted to visit the Orient Express with the Doctor – the closest she had gotten was the space version.

The bedroom on the space Orient Express had been pretty luxurious too but it had been a single one. She eyed up the double bed that Missy was currently splayed on with some trepidation. As is she could read her mind, the Time Lady smirked in the insufferable way she seemed to have perfected and rose to her feet again.

“You can have this room, I’ll go see if I can find a spare one” Missy volunteered.

Clara hoped that meant the other woman was going to go claim she had fallen out with her room mate or some other excuse, rather than throwing some poor unsuspecting passenger out into the snowy abyss.

When she didn’t immediately answer Missy tilted her head and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“I’ll meet you on the dining carriage in an hour?” the Time Lady suggested.

Clara had nothing to wear that was suitable for a meal on an upper-class moving restaurant. She was currently donning jeans, a blouse and a medieval gilet made from some sort of dead animal. It wasn’t a look that would allow her to blend in and she probably stank of sweat given the fact she had slept and then fought in it.

Clara was damn sure Missy could read her mind when the other woman slid past her and opened the wardrobe up to reveal several dresses and other clothing items.

“Yeah sure” she agreed.

A little bit of her was excited to get dressed up and explore which was terrible considering their reasons for being there. In 2015 the Doctor was – well god knows what was happening to the Doctor whilst he was held captive by sentient robotic crystals. This was certainly living life on the run in luxury, but Clara needed to know if Missy finally had a real plan yet. She resolved to press the other woman over diner.

****

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara felt blissfully clean and dressed to kill. Well, not literally. She was certainly turning a few heads and gaining some lustful looks from both men and women as she made her way to the dining carriage.

The dress she was wearing was black and silver patterned and came to mid-thigh before playing off into knee length slits of material. It was sleeveless and cut in a wide V shape that revealed just a hint of cleavage. It was probably the more revealing dress in the wardrobe, but she had instantly fallen in love with it.   

When she arrived on the dining carriage it was already full of people in a mixture of elegant dresses, some with similar dresses to her own, and men in tailored suits. There, sat on a table about half way down the carriage, was the Time Lady.

Missy was wearing her hair out again, most of the dark auburn locks falling sown the left-hand side of her face and over her shoulder due to a styled side fringe. The dress she was wearing tapered down below her knee and was made of a dark burgundy material with a delicate black lace overlay. It had a conservative neckline with sleeves that reached down to the elbow. Clara nearly didn’t recognise the other woman – probably wouldn’t have if she hadn’t seen Missy with her hair down once already in the bolt hole house.

The other woman was reading a newspaper but looked up as Clara approached, instantly folding the broadsheet and dropping it on the table. Her eyes scanned down and up the younger woman appreciatively not once, but twice – not bothering to hide her appreciation. Clara had enjoyed the positive attention from strangers but under Missy’s intense gaze she felt incredibly flattered. So flattered in fact, that the feeling was uncomfortable. The Time Lord she was used to didn’t seem to direct amorous gazes at anyone, even her.

“Mmmm look at you” Missy hummed appreciatively – “you look good enough to eat.”

Clara was sure the Time Lady understood exactly what those words implied and felt heat rapidly rising to her cheeks. She desperately looked for something on the table to focus on apart from Missy’s leering expression or her figure-hugging dress. In the end her eyes settled on the evening’s menu, so she took the comfortable bench seat opposite the Time Lady and picked it up. The meal appeared to be made up of several small courses, none of which she recognised. The only words she could pick out where terrine and lobster. It all sounded like it would be amazing though, so Clara placed the menu back down and dared to look at the other woman again.

Missy was sat back in the seat, watching her with an odd amount on interest considering Clara was just a mundane old human. She was about to call the Time Lady out on her attentions when they were interrupted by the arrival of a finely dressed waiter holding an ice bucket containing an expensive looking bottle of Champagne. He poured them both a glass of the fizzy liquid before leaving the rest of it on the table with them. It was the sort of service that had made a trip to the Orient Express one for her bucket list.

“The Doctor took me to the Orient Express in space once” she said with a fond smile - “it was meant to be our last journey together, but we got chased around the train by a soul sucking mummy, so I ended up staying.”

Clara probably wasn’t telling the other woman anything she didn’t already know. It appeared as if the Time Lady kept some sort of tabs on the Doctor’s adventures. Hell, Clara wasn’t sure if they ever figured out who sent the damn mummy. It was probably Missy, in one of her wild attempts to keep them together.

“That’s not how a normal boring human mind works, you know that don’t you Clara” the other woman smiled.

 “If I have to be one of those three, I will stick to the human part thanks” she shot back instantly.

Missy seemed to take great delight in her answer and tipped her head back in a silent laugh. There was an ease to the other woman’s countenance that was foreign but not unwelcome. Just unusual, and a little hard to get used too. Perhaps it was wise that she didn’t get used to it – to avoid falling into that fly trap. Because Missy was like a spider. A big colourful, stunning spider that quietly built a web to trap unsuspecting or attracted insects in.

When the Time Lady straightened up, she took a long sip of her drink and smiled appreciatively. It didn’t surprise Clara that Missy enjoyed the finer things in life. There was something very upper class about both Time Lords but at least the Doctor usually hid his snobbery well – unless it came to the topic of soldiers. Clara took a smaller, more exploratory sip from the flute. It was good Champagne – as good, if not better than that which she tasted on the space version of the express train.

“Thank you for bringing me here” Clara said sincerely.

It wasn’t exactly a jaunty trip out between two gal pals - Missy would never chose to rock up in a TARDIS and take Clara out on a day trip, and even if she had, under any other circumstance Clara would have escaped out the window rather than willingly go with her. Probably. Unless she hadn’t seen the Doctor for weeks and was bored. Anyway, it wasn’t a jaunty trip, but it was certainly a pleasant location to hide from a dangerous time travelling immortal being.

“Well we might as well be on the run with a bit of panache” Missy proclaimed with a dramatic flick of a wrist.

The first course of the meal started to be delivered to the diners. It was fanned melon with some sort of berry coulis. It was beautifully presented and miniscule in its proportion. It was a good job there would be six of these tiny courses.

“Shall we?” Missy asked politely – as she placed a napkin on her lace covered lap.

Clara smiled in response and followed suit, placing her own napkin on her lap and carefully picking up her cutlery. Now that they were settled, it was time to quiz the Time Lady a little.

“Do you have a plan yet?” she got right to the point.

Missy cut a piece of melon and dipped it in the coulis before popping it into her mouth. Clara watched her for a moment before sighing and tucking into her own food. The melon was juicy and a little bit bitter, which contrasted perfectly with the sweet berries.  

“That crystal in your arm” the Time Lady finally replied after finishing her mouthful - “I think it contains the Kroton base code.”

If Missy was correct then surely they could extract it and go rescue the Doctor immediately – well, after dinner.

“Well that’s good, we can just use your sonic…” Clara started to reply, stopping mid-sentence when Missy shook her head - “what?”

She had to wait for the Time Lady to finish her next mouthful for a response. So, Clara enjoyed another piece of the melon whilst she waited.

“Its not technology Clara, it’s a crystal – the sonic won’t be able to decipher it and it will alert the Chronovore to our location immediately” Missy sighed.

The Time Lady wasn’t derogatory in correcting her, but there was frustration in the auburn-haired woman’s tone. Clara felt frustrated too – and concerned for her best friend and planet.  

“So how are we meant to get the code?” she asked.

Clara presumed Missy didn’t have the answer yet but as the other woman liked to build to a crescendo like they were performing in a theatre, it was worth checking.

“Don’t know yet…need to get creative” the Time Lady admitted.

Missy had been about to pop another piece of melon in her mouth before speaking and had paused the fork just millimetres away from her lips so she could reply. As the Time Lady had spoke her upper lip had brushed the most protruding part of melon and a bit of coulis had transferred onto her red lipstick. Missy’s tongue darted out to sensually remove the sticky berry with the tip, drawing the coulis into her mouth. The rest of the melon followed seconds later but Clara’s eyes were still drawn to the other woman’s mouth.

She was sure Missy had orchestrated the whole think of purpose to draw a reaction from her. It wasn’t a new development. If Clara had let her, Missy would have made out with her in the guise of the 3W welcome package. The other woman had flirted quite obviously with her on Skaro and had even tried to get her killed. According to Missy, murder attempts were the ultimate form of flirtation from the Time Lady. Clara preferred the current approach more. 

“Well you Time Lords…and Lady’s…are good at that” the younger woman skittered over her words as she tried to reply.

“Oh, I can be very creative” Missy practically purred.

Clara made a grab for her Champagne and took a long drawn out sip. Hoping the cool liquid would take her rising internal temperature back down and hide the flush she could feel developing across her cheeks and chest.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The rest of the evening had been surprisingly pleasant. Missy was an odd but charming dinner date and they had even talked with some of the other guests. There was a glittering array of rich people on the train – bankers, country lords, an American politician, a Swiss writer and a French singer. It was all very glamorous and exciting, like living in an old movie. Missy had passed herself off as a rich well-travelled widower, claiming that Clara was her young companion – a young educated writer, looking to further that writing by experiencing the world.

They had retired to their cabins late in the evening, not long before midnight. Missy had acquired a room (Clara still hadn’t dared ask by what means) on a carriage nearer to the lounge and dining area on the train that her own. It had been an odd farewell – lingering a little longer than needed. If there hadn’t been other people present Clara suspected the Time Lady may have said something suggestive. Instead they parted on a simple ‘goodnight’.  

Clara had been asleep for a less than an hour when she heard people in the corridor outside her cabin. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but they sounded worried and perhaps even upset. Clara climbed out of bed and went to her door, deciding to just be bold and open it, rather than try to listen in.

Three people were stood in the corridor, outside a room two doors down. It was the London banker, Mr George Hall if Clara recalled correctly, and his young with Anabelle. In the doorway to the room stood one of the attendants of the Orient Express. All three of them looked in shock, and Anabelle was curled into her husbands’ side. He was still dressed in his suit, but she was in night clothes.

“What’s wrong?” Clara asked.

The three looked from one another, obviously wondering if they should answer truthfully or not. When she stepped closer to them the banker stepped forward to stop her.

“I was returning from playing a late-night game of cards in the lounge and the door to the room was open” Mr Hall explained – “the writer, Pierre was it…he was lying across the bed covered in blood.”

Clara stepped around him and peered into the room. It was the Swiss writer who she had enjoyed a lengthy conversation with earlier, dressed in his night clothes and bloodied. He had clearly been murdered – stabbed to death by the look of things.

“You should get the Captain” Clara instructed.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Whilst the attendant went for the Captain, the banker agreed to watch over the cabin and Clara went to fetch Missy. When she reached the door of Missy’s cabin, she tapped on it gently with her fist, loud enough for the Time Lady to hear but hopefully not loud enough to awaken others on the carriage.

After a few seconds the door opened to reveal Missy, wide awake, and wearing the most sinful robe that Clara had ever seen. It was dark blue, a colour that went spectacularly well with the other woman’s eye colour and auburn hair. It was long enough to nearly reach the floor but had a slit up either leg that reached high up the Time Lady’s thighs and neck line that plunged down to below Missy breasts. It showed a huge amount of perfect pale skin and cleavage and there was no way the other woman was wearing anything underneath.

“Oh…wow” Clara ogled – her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

She was so discombobulated by Missy’s appearance that she couldn’t hide her open admiration. A fact that made the Time Lady absolutely delighted. Even that couldn’t shake Clara back to grim reality.

“Can I help you dear?” Missy asked mock innocently.

Clara dragged her eyes back up to the Time Lady’s smirking face and swallowed the huge lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. Why did this terrible, infuriating woman have to be quite so attractive? And why was she wearing something designed to be so sexy? Clara hoped the Time Lady hadn’t been planning to rock up to her cabin dressed like that to seduce her because it probably would have been very effective.

“Erm…there has been a murder” she managed to stammer the words out.

The other woman’s expression went from thrilled and flirtatious to offended instantaneously.  

“And? It wasn’t me if that is what you are thinking…” Missy snapped.

Clara’s mouth fell open, this time in an unpleasant sort of surprise and not the aroused kind. It hadn’t crossed her mind that the other woman would interpret her arrival in that way. She supposed people usually presumed the worst when the Master was around and were often right. In this instance, Clara hadn’t even considered that the Time Lady could be responsible and even now the thought had been implanted she still knew the other woman had nothing to do with it.  

“No!” she protested - “I wasn’t accusing you Missy, I thought we could investigate what happened.”

The Time Lady looked…relieved? Whatever the look was it flashed across the other woman’s face so quickly it would have been unperceivable if Clara wasn’t watching her so closely. The look morphed into a sort of amused curiosity.

“Like in an Agatha Christie novel?” the other woman hesitated – quirking an eyebrow at the suggestion.

Despite the hesitation, Clara could tell that Missy wasn’t completely against the idea. From what she understood from the Doctor, the Master mainly kept out of other people’s business, only popping a head above the parapet occasionally to cause chaos for the Doctor. Whereas the Doctor directly influenced and shaped the future, the Master was usually happy to slide through time and space relatively unnoticed.

“Could be fun” Clara shrugged.

Missy tilted her head and gave it some thought before mimicking Clara’s shrug. The Time Lady slid forward into the gap between her and the doorway and turned to shut the cabin door. It meant that the other woman’s back was pressed against Clara’s front, which caught her so off guard that she stayed rigidly still. She could feel the heat of Missy’s skin radiating through the thin silky material. Her own silk pyjama’s no thicker but far less revealing.

“You’re going dressed like that?” Clara swallowed.

It was certainly one way of dragging answers out of every man…and woman…on the train. If Clara thought that she had turned heads with her dress this evening, then she couldn’t wait to see everyone’s reaction to Missy’s ‘sleepwear’. She just wished she could take her eyes off the other woman.

Missy turned her head to the left, so she was looking over her shoulder at Clara. It brought there face far too close together and made her breath hitch in the back of her throat. Still her feet betrayed her, and she stayed rigidly still.

“Dressed like what poppet?” the Time Lady asked innocently.

She could feel a blush rising again and finally her limbs acquiesced to her will and allowed her to step backwards away from the woman in front of her. In her attempt to get far enough away from Missy for the other woman not to be able to see the pinkening of her cheeks in the dim light of the corridor, her back thudded softly against the corridor wall.

“Nothing” Clara stumbled – “never mind.”

Missy’s responding wicked giggle echoed quietly down the corridor as the Time Lady walked in the direction of Clara’s carriage. She followed on behind, sulking at her own body’s betrayal.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

When they arrived back on the carriage, the Captain was already present with the attendant and Mr Hall. Mrs Hall had obviously retreated to the safety of their room. The banker was just finishing telling the Captain what he had told Clara. Missy, although the perfect dinner guest earlier, ploughed in with all the gentle decorum of a bull in a china shop.

“Who were you playing cards with?” she cut into Mr Hall’s account - “did anyone leave your game early?”

The Captain looked thoroughly unimpressed and completely taken off guard by her. Mr Hall looked taken off guard too, but his eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he looked at the Time Lady. His attention just made Missy roll her eyes – there was none of the glee she had displayed under Clara’s earlier gaze.

“No, we all left at the same time” the banker answered quickly - “I think you were the last group to leave before us, we offered Pierre a game, but he declined, finished his drink and left the lounge.”

Although it wasn’t a direct answer, Clara could wheedle down who was still at the game by who was left when Missy, herself, Lord and Lady Ashbury and Jeanne the French singer went to bed.

“Who are you exactly?” the Captain cut in sharply.

Missy completely ignored him in favour or turning to speak to Clara instead.

“So, our murdered is likely to be someone who had left for bed earlier in the night and likely to be staying on this carriage” the Time Lady deduced.

Missy addressed her like she was her deputy or assistant. Clara felt like the Captain Hastings to Missy’s Poirot – to use the other woman’s Agatha Christie reference from earlier. Not that Clara minded, it was quite exciting to be investigating a murder like this.

“Why on this carriage?” the banker inquired.

Clara felt a little smug that she understood Missy’s train of thought when others didn’t. She was used to trying to keep up with the mind of a Time Lord and usually sharp enough to manage it. This man was a successful millionaire Oxford educated banker, but he couldn’t hold his own with a secondary school English teacher.

“The attendants are active all night so whoever it was would only have a limited amount of time to leave their room, stab him to death and get back to their room without being seen” Clara explained.

She glanced at Missy and smiled, her smile broadening when the other woman grinned back and winked at her. They were quite effective when they teamed up – although Clara wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or something for her to be very worried about.

“I’m sorry but who are you two ladies and why do you presume to be in charge here?” the Captain snapped at the two of them.

From the furious glare Missy threw in his direction, Clara was glad the Time Lady wasn’t armed or there would have surely been a second murder. In absence of a weapon, it was the other woman’s words that smashed him into submission instead.

“She’s clever and I’m genius” Missy clipped – apparently designating them by their mental capacity and not their names for the rest of the journey.

It certainly caught the middle-aged Captain off guard and his grey bearded jaw slackened. Considering they were in the time period just post World War One, he had probably never been spoken to like that by a woman in his life, not even by his wife. Especially not by his wife.

Missy wasn’t finished taking him down a peg or two yet, much to Clara’s amusement.

“Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a look at the body and the murder scene before you move it to somewhere colder and more private” the Time Lady stated firmly.

The Captain simply nodded, acquiescing to the demand without any protest. The attendant, who was stood behind him, looked both shocked and amused. It was probably like seeing a parent governor take down the headmaster in front of the rest of the staff.

Missy flounced into the doorway of the cabin before halting and swinging back around to face the Captain again.

“A passenger manifest for this carriage would be helpful too” she added dismissively - he didn’t have a chance to reply before Missy disappeared into the bedroom.

Clara smiled at him as politely as possible given the situation before hurrying after the other woman and into the dead writer’s cabin.

****

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy neared the bed and scanned the body with her eyes quickly before moving away to explore the rest of the room more thoroughly. Clara stepped into the space the Time Lady just vacated and carefully visually examined both the body and the bed he lay on. The bed covers were quite messy, like there had been a struggle. Blood had seeped onto them and spread out across the white linen like tie die.

There seemed to be three thin stab wounds, and on the bed next to the body lay a letter opener covered in blood. Clara suspected that, as the killer had left the murder weapon behind, it belonged to Pierre. That suggested there hadn’t been an intention to kill when entering the cabin. Something had happened in this room that had provoked the attack.

For someone to have overpowered him and cause that kind of damage – well it had to be a very violent physical attack.

“The force needed to cause such deep stab wounds suggests a male attacker” Clara voiced her observation out loud.

Missy hummed in agreement from where she was stood at the other end of the cabin. The Captain was stood in the doorway silently watching them and watching the Time Lady a little too closely for Clara’s liking. Not that Missy even acknowledged his presence.

She stepped closer to the back of the blue gowned woman, pushing on her tiptoes to look over a shoulder. When Missy realised what Clara was doing, she slid out the way to give Clara a better view and turned back to the bed. There, on the side table, was a half empty crystal decanter of red wine and not one, but two empty glasses. Pierre had company before he died, and from the red lipstick mark on the glass, that company was female. The shade was quite daring, suggesting one of the young ‘modern’ women on the express train rather than the demur middle aged women who wore lighter and pinker shades.

Clara swung around to comment on the discovery but was stopped in her tracks by the view. Missy was bending over to pick up something from just under the edge of the bed revealing a large amount of leg via the two long slits in the robe. Regeneration, which the Doctor claimed was a lottery, had hit the jackpot in creating Missy’s figure because the Time Lady was damn near perfect. A fact that Clara tried to clear from her obviously malfunctioning mind by staring at the coat and stock tie which was slung rather untidily over the back of the gold upholstered chair by the breakfast table.

“They make this so much more difficult looking on CSI” Missy complained as she stood upright again.

Considering Missy claimed to dislike the human race so much, she seemed to know a lot of pop culture references and Earth based bolt holes. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by Clara that the room she was staying in was already booked out by the Time Lady. Now Missy was admitting to watching twentieth century long running American crime serials.

“What have you found?” she inquired – just about able to make out something glinting in the other woman’s closed hand.

Missy stepped closer to Clara and held out her fisted hand. The younger woman held out her own hand with a flat palm and the Time Lady dropped something small, cold and metal into it. She pulled the hand closer to her body so she could inspect the object. It was a gangly, ornate gold earring – clearly very expensive. Considering its location in the room it probably belonged to the female guest, lost no doubt in the activity that ruffled the sheets up. That could potentially be a scuffle to the death, but Clara was starting to suspect the activity in question was more of pleasure than pain.

“Recognise whose earing this is?” the Time Lady asked.

Clara could tell by the other woman’s tone and pleased expression that Missy knew EXACTLY whose earring it was. She racked her brain, trying to picture every woman they had conversed with this evening. It wasn’t the French singer, she wasn’t wearing an ostentatious dress, but her accessories had been simple. The Lady Ashbury was wearing a matching pearl set, a look that had been common across the women of that age group. That left one woman – a woman with an older wealthy husband, a plain but elegant cream dress with lavish gold jewellery.

“The banker’s wife” Clara concluded.

Missy grinned in a way that indicated she was pleased with the younger woman. Obviously, she had recalled the detail correctly, but Anabelle Hall didn’t appear strong enough to do this kind of damage. She had obviously been in the cabin though and not after the body was found. Annabelle had been wearing a night dress then and no jewellery.

“Oh” the explanation dawned on Clara - “ohhhhhhhh.”

“Nobody ever suspects the person who reports the murder” Missy smirked.

Annabelle had been playing away whilst the husband had been playing cards – but what would have happened if he returned to earlier than expected from his card game. Their room was right next to Pierre’s and the walls were far from thick.

Missy’s grin broadened as Clara mentally reasoned it all out for herself. The Time Lady reached out and took the earring back out of her open palm, letting her finger tips brush and linger against the soft skin there for a second or two longer than necessary.

Then the warm and surprisingly sensual contact was gone, and Missy tossed the earring in the Captains direction. The middle-aged man caught it between both hands and turned the object in his palms, investigating it for himself.

“I’d go take Mr Hall into custody if I was you” the Time Lady smugly suggested.

The banker was already sprinting off down the carriage with the attendant hot on his heels. Clara couldn’t help but giggle at both Missy’s smug supremacy and the man’s stupidity. It was a moving train in the middle of the snowy abyss. Where exactly did he thing he could escape to?

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Mr Hall had been apprehended and locked in his cabin with his young wife, with the same attendant who had given chase posted to stand watch outside. Clara had retreated back to bed and managed to sleep for a couple of hours before giving up and reading part of a well-worn copy of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Human, All Too Human’. It was quite deep for the early hours of the morning.

The Time Lady had suggested that they meet for breakfast in the morning before moving on. It sounded like an excellent idea and Clara wanted to draw out her experience on the Orient Express for a little longer. So, Clara had dressed in a slightly longer but similar dress from the evening before and headed to the dining carriage as soon as it was open. It was no surprise to find Missy already sat there waiting, dressed in her normal Time Lady garb, hair coiffed to perfection.

“Morning” Clara greeted.

The Time Lady leant back against the bench seat and smiled in response. Clara slid into the space opposite the other woman and sat down, she was about to reach for the breakfast menu when one of the waiters carried a tray across to them and placed it down on the edge of the table. It contained two ornate teacups, a matching tea pot, matching jug of milk and a pot with sugar cubes in.

“I may have been rather presumptuous and ordered for us” Missy admitted as he placed the items down in front of them - “will you forgive me?”

The Time Lady lent forward in the seat, pouted and battered her eyelashes in Clara’s direction. Her immediate response was to roll her eyes at Missy’s childlike behaviour. She wasn’t sure if she minded or not. Clara had never been keen on people making decisions on her behalf – it had caused some of her and the Doctor’s more inflamed arguments. Choosing breakfast for her wasn’t a dramatic removal of Clara’s agency but it still irked her a little.

“I suppose that depends what you ordered” she replied diplomatically.

“A pot of English breakfast tea and poached eggs with smoked salmon on the fanciest toast you will ever lay your eyes on” Missy chirped.

Usually Clara threw some cornflakes and milk in a bowl and ate it as she hopped around the kitchen dressing for work. Yesterday morning in the medieval village, she had a piece of old dry bread. Missy’s breakfast order sounded pretty damn good in comparison.

“You’re forgiven then” Clara smiled.

The Time Lady smiled in return, looking insufferably pleased with herself as she picked up the teapot and began to pour out the tea. She served Clara first, before filling her own cup. Clara watched with some amusement as Missy put two sugar lumps into her teacup and stirred it, completing Clara’s morning drink with a good helping of milk. It was quite nice to have a Time Lady waiting on her although she suspected Missy was just showing off how attentive she was to even the smallest details.

Missy was certainly paying attention to her right now. Clara could see the other woman surreptitiously checking her out whilst stirring her own tea. Apparently, Missy took it unsweetened with a dash of milk. Clara made a mental note in case the occasion arose for her to make the other woman a hot drink. When Missy glanced up at her enough to catch her eye, Clara raised a quizzical brow.

“You might want to change back into your jeans before we leave” Missy suggested - “it’s a fabulous look on you but not very practical for where we are headed.”

Clara had already expected she would need to change back into something more practical before they moved on. She liked to wear appropriate clothing when in Earth’s history – they were meant to be treading carefully after all – not causing huge waves. Unfortunately, she had visited a Viking village in a space suit but that had been completely out of her own control.

She had no idea where they were going next although presumably it was somewhere in Earth’s past as they had to avoid any time period with technology that could be utilized by the Kroton’s. That left a long list of possibilities.

“Are you going to give me any clues?” Clara coaxed.

The Time Lady elegantly sipped at her tea as she regarded the younger woman over the cup. Other people were starting to enter the carriage so Missy leant forward conspiratorially, so she could reply without the others hearing them.

“I need a particular kind of Martian crystal but without finding a space suit and going all the way to Mars I can only think of one possible source -a meteorite from a period when a number of large ones were striking the Earth at a regular basis.”

The explanation was still vague but it furthered Clara’s knowledge a little. The device Missy wanted to create to read the base code stored in the crystal embedded in Clara’s arm needed another alien crystal to power it. To find one they were going to have to go back thousands, if not millions of years in the past.

There wasn’t going to be anyone around then to be influenced by her dress sense – not unless she found herself immortalised in a cave painting. Her and the Doctor had been carved into an obelisk in Egypt on one of their adventures. It had been more complimentary to her than to him, much to his chagrin.

“It sounds like I am going to need a good breakfast then” Clara grinned as the waiter approached them with their plates.

Missy was right – it was the fanciest looking toast she had ever laid eyes on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always welcome!


	7. Mors certa, hora incerta - Death is certain, the hour is not certain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy and Clara take a trip to the distant past to find ore from a fallen asteroid. Clara is worried about becoming a dinosaur’s lunch but dinosaurs turn out to be the least of there worries.

They had arrived in what had appeared to be a desert – Missy stood completely unphased by the journey and Clara ended up sat in a heap. It really didn’t get any easier each time they travelled through the time vortex. She suspected it would take a hundred such trips before she arrived as elegantly as the other woman and Clara hoped they didn’t have that many trips before returning to rescue the Doctor.

Missy surveyed the surroundings, doing nothing to help her scramble back to her feet. Apparently, the Time Lady had left the pleasantries back on the Orient Express.

 Clara moved to the other woman’s side and looked around too. It wasn’t actually a desert as there was some plant life scattered around but it was nearly as hot as the desert. There was a bright sun in the sky which was beating down hard on them. Clara was dressed in her jeans, blouse and her leather jacket which Missy had packed into her rucksack but not volunteered to her in the medieval village. She was already starting to sweat in the outfit but at least it would prevent the bulk of her pale skin burning in the sun.

“It’s hotter than hell here” Clara commented.

“No, I’m hotter than hell” Missy countered with a flirtatious smirk - “this is just uncomfortably warm.”

She was tempted to reply with a whole number of sarcastic remarks about the ego of the Time Lords but resisted playing the other woman’s game. Despite Missy’s confident reply, the Time Lady looked as hot and bothered as Clara. A lock of dark auburn hair which had escaped the tightly styled bun was already sticking to Missy’s forehead.

Clara didn’t want to converse about the weather anyway - she wasn’t that terribly British. What she wanted to know was how far back they had travelled and what they were going to do now they were here. There didn’t appear to be any Martian crystals lying about in plain sight. That would be too easy.

“Where are we?” she pressed.

Missy stated walking steadily across the sandy plain so Clara followed at her side. The other woman always seemed to walk in long hurried strides which Clara’s shorter legs struggled to keep up with. Trotting next to Missy in this heat was far from comfortable.

“In what you would now call Africa but in the Cretaceous era close to the extinction event that led to the Palaeocene era” the Time Lady explained as they moved.

Clara had always been interested in history – its just that the history she was interested in was a bit more modern. The sort of time period that Missy was talking about made the ancient Egyptians look like yesterday.

“I’m an English Literature teacher” she pointed out - This wasn’t the sort of stuff covered in Austin, Dickens or Shakespeare.

Missy chuckled at the response and shook her head. Clara had seen the Doctor react in a similar way when explaining something in Earth history – like it amused him that he, an alien, had to explain her own history to her.

It sometimes irritated her, and would have previously annoyed her from Missy, but she was getting more and more comfortable in the other woman’s presence. The more comfortable she felt the less easy it was for Missy to irk her.

“When dinosaurs still roamed your Earth, before it was plummeted into the last ice age” the Time Lady simplified - “well the last ice age before you were born anyway.”

That was another Time Lord trait apparently – throwing in cloak and dagger comments about Earth’s future that sounded undesirable. She saw spoilers all the time travelling with the Doctor but usually they were in some for flung part of the galaxy after the human race had started exploring far and wide.

“I don’t want to know” Clara sighed - “nor do I want to get chased by a dinosaur.”

She had already had one experience with a Tyrannosaurs Rex when the Doctor had been regenerating. They had accidently brought it to Victorian London with them. That beast had been large and cumbersome despite its fearsome reputation. She had seen Jurassic Park though, all three of them in fact, and didn’t fancy trying to outrun a raptor. Did they even have raptor’s in the Cretaceous era or where they in the Jurassic era?

 

“Meteor crater” Missy stated simply – breaking Clara from her thoughts - pointing ahead of them to a large gaping opening in the sands.

It looked ominous and the situation was horribly familiar to another adventure she had suffered through with the Time Lady.

“I don’t want to get pushed in there either” Clara sniped - “I still haven’t forgiven you for Skaro.”

The other woman had pushed her down a twenty-foot hole under the pretence of finding the bottom. She suspected Missy had just done it out of mischief and knew full well how far the fall was. It had been a miracle Clara had only been knocked unconscious and not seriously injured. On second thought, she must have been injured after a fall like that, so the Time Lady had probably used regeneration energy on her again. 

“Ancient history Clara – get over it” Missy sassed.

Clara’s immediate response was to scoff at the Time Lady. This, the age of the dinosaurs was ancient history. Their little trip to save the Doctor from Davros and his Daleks was practically yesterday.

“It was six months ago!” she protested – loudly.

“For you maybe” Missy smirked.

Clara had no idea if that meant it was more recent for the Time Lady or far longer. That was the odd thing about time travel, she had gone of with the Doctor for three months last Christmas and arrived back on Earth only hours after she had left. Her travels meant that she was physically at least a year older than her passport claimed. 

She had played into Missy’s hands though. Clara realised that. The other woman had wanted to wind her up and it had briefly worked. So, Clara defaulted back to her usual way of dealing with the Time Lady and rolled her eyes and ignored the remark.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy hadn’t pushed her into the crater. In fact, the Time Lady had made a point of assisting her down with a steadying hand after what had been a relatively easy climb. It could have been seen as quite charming and chivalrous if it had been anyone other than Missy. Instead it just felt like the other woman was making a show after Clara had brought up her lack of manners on the home planet of the Daleks.

They were not just in a meteor crater but actually within the meteor itself. It had burnt and cracked open on contact with the earth forming a series of rough recesses and thin passageways which had been eroded away further by sand and water. It had probably already been there for hundreds of years.

Even with the erosion the ground and passage walls were still rough and the light from the crater hole was behind them and not ahead, causing Clara to trip forward and to the left. It nearly put her head first into the wall but even before she could put her hands up to protect her face, Missy grasped her around the waist with two strong arms and righted her.

“Careful” the Time Lady hissed in her ear, before releasing her and stepping back.

Clara remained frozen in place for a moment, caught of guard by the feeling of the other woman wrapped around her even after she had moved away. The Time Lady had radiated warmth and was a pleasant mixture of angular lines and soft curves.

A torch light cracked on behind her, illuminating the dark passageway like opening in front of them. The walls, which had looked dull and brown in the dark, suddenly glittered like fool’s gold where the false beam of light hit them. It was an impressive sight.

“There seem to be a lot of crystals” Clara commented.

The walls seemed to be penetrated by thousands of tiny opaque specks. She wondered if any of them where the variety of Martian crystal they were seeking.

“Most of the glittering is heated material from the impact which has basically formed glass” Missy explained - “we are looking for a yellowy orange crystal.”

Considering the amount of sparkle there was around them, it was going to be hard to spot a specific type of crystal unless it was big. Missy didn’t seem to be concerned and began to make her way carefully into the passage, shining her torch from side to side. Clara was hot on her heels, trying to stay close enough to the other woman’s back to see where her feet were going.

About half way down the long thin space, Missy stopped and handed Clara the torch. She shone the light from one side of the wall to the next, wondering why they had halted because she couldn’t see anything other than glittery rock.

The Time Lady took her rucksack of her shoulder and dug her hand in, feeling around the tiny bag like it was a large suitcase until she pulled out four circular disks. It looked like Mary Poppins, pulling the lampshade out of her canvas bag. It was an image that made Clara smile to herself. Missy pressed one of the disks against the wall and it lit up, providing as much light as the torch did.

“What else have you got packed in that dimensionally engineered bag of yours?” Clara chuckled.

“Wouldn’t you like to know” Missy replied flirtatiously.

Clara could feel a blush creep up her cheeks again. She doubted the other woman had anything too exciting in there, but she knew from experience that she carried handcuffs and rope. With Missy you never really knew – there could literally be anything in that bag. The Time lady handed her the remaining three disks and took the torch back.

They began to move forward again, reaching another seam in the rock that crossed this one like a T junction. Missy shone the torch both ways before choosing to go right. Clara noted that she was no longer as sweltering hot as before despite the fact she had just been blushing. It was a much more pleasant temperature, even a little chilly – which was odd considering how hot it was just metres above them.

“It’s colder down here” she mused out loud - “I suppose it’s just because we are out of the direct sunlight.”

Missy halted, like she hadn’t noticed until Clara mentioned it, and looked deep in thought.

“Let’s hope so” the Time Lady said seriously.

The other woman didn’t look too sure though and angled the torch to cast the maximum light possible down the passage. Missy tilted her head slightly and stared forward, like she was searching for something ahead of them in the darkness. Clara couldn’t see anything but then her eyesight was not as good as a Time Lord’s.

She could see Missy clearly and Missy looked worried. Clara hated it when the older woman looked concerned because she was usually insufferably cocky, unless something truly wicked this way comes. They had dealt with a medieval raid and a murder on their last two jumps – they could do with a break on this one. She just hoped it wasn’t a dinosaur, or a sabre tooth tiger…or a giant insect.

“What’s wrong?” she dared to ask.

Missy’s eyes didn’t leave the dark space in front of them – staring wide eyes at something just out of Clara’s view.

“Clara, I want you to turn back to back with me and look behind us” the Time Lady instructed – her voice careful and concerned.

“What, why?” Clara asked.

She was already slowly turning as she replied. The tone of Missy’s voice was enough to make her follow the command without a fight.

“Because there is a Weeping Angel in front of us” quavered Missy.

Clara understood the look of fear now. She knew exactly what a weeping angel was – had seen them once before. There had been the stories the Doctor had told her too, about how he had lost his friends Amy and Rory to one.

She pressed her back to Missy’s, no longer worried about being in physical contact with the often-psychotic Time Lady, and squinted into the area they had just walked through. There was a little light cast into that part of the seam by the disk on the wall in the first bit of passage way they had walked through. She could just make out the shape of a stone figure about six metres away.

“There is one behind us too” Clara stammered.

In her attempt to see the figure clearer she blinked, and it was suddenly half a metre nearer. Clara nearly jumped out of her skin, her physical jerk enough for the Time Lady to notice considering their proximity.

“Don’t look away, don’t even blink” Missy hissed.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Time felt like it was standing still. When in reality she had been stood staring at the weeping angel for a matter of seconds it felt like minutes. Her eyes were already starting to sting and somehow knowing she absolutely could not blink only made them sting more.

“We need to move together to that recess in the rock just back a bit and to your right, so they are both in front of us” Missy instructed.

Clara had noticed the recess when the other woman was shining the torch around. Getting cornered by the angels didn’t appeal to her but she understood that the couldn’t both not blink forever – or for much longer for that matter. At least if both of the alien predators were ahead of them, then they could take turns to stare at the angels.

“Okay” Clara agreed.

Missy reached back and linked her free arm with Clara’s, pulling them even closer together. They shuffled slowly together, taking small steps towards the angel Clara was facing until the Time Lady pulled them to a stop. Missy then began to move them right – well Clara’s right – towards where the other woman had mentally calculated the recess to be.

As they stepped back into the recess, Missy swung to face the direction they had come from and wrapped an arm around Clara’s waist to guide her.

“Close your eyes for a moment” the Time Lady instructed.

Even though she was usually a bossy control freak, that was an order Clara was happy to comply with. She shut her eyes and let Missy guide her backwards until they both thudded back against a wall of solid meteor rock.

Clara felt Missy fumble around blindly at her hand until she grasped the remaining disks. There was a thudding sound as the other woman obviously slammed a disk against the wall above them. It was a clever idea, especially as the torch appeared to be a plain old battery operated one. It would be sayonara to them both if those batteries suddenly died.

“Open them again so I can look at the vortex manipulator” Missy ordered.

Clara opened her eyes and was horrified to discover the two angels just a couple of metres away at the edge of the recess. One on either side of the wall, peering around it with twisted faces and bared teeth - like something from a horror movie.

“That’s unfortunate” Missy growled.

“What is?” Clara asked.

The whole situation seemed very unfortunate to her. She couldn’t imagine how it could get any worse. To think that she was worried about running into a dinosaur. This was far worse.

“The material the meteorite is made of is blocking us jumping” the Time Lady sighed.

That was worse. Clara hadn’t thought of just transporting themselves out of the mess, she wasn’t used to just hopping away from trouble at the flick of a dimensionally engineered wrist watch like the other woman was - but it was horrible news to discover that it wasn’t an option.

They were trapped here, with their backs against a wall and a pair of homicidal stone statues hovering within spitting distance. That wasn’t the way Clara wanted to exit this world.

“Are we going to die?” she whined – cringing at the sound of her own voice.

“Death is for other people dear” Missy drawled.

It was almost comforting to hear those words repeated to her. Missy had pointed out that the Doctor usually survived because he went into every situation thinking he was going to win. He had hope. Clara doubted Missy thrived on hope, but the Time Lady was the ultimate survivor. She went into every situation believing she could get out of it and very determined to do so. If that determination was still there, then Clara still had some hope.

That hope was countered by a lot of fear and eyes that were beginning to sting like many little needles poking them. She was about to ask Missy to swap with her again when the other woman spoke up.

“Rest your eyes again” the Time Lady ordered - “we can take it in turns until I come up with another solution.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The shared staring contest between Clara, Missy and the two weeping angels had continued for around twenty minutes before Clara was starting to get desperate. They were changing over every 30 seconds like clockwork but every time it stung a little more. Her body desperately wanted to blink even though she was willing it not too.

“I don’t know how long I can carry this on for” she worried.

They had both slid down the wall, so they were sat shoulder to shoulder. Missy had routed out a number of items from her rucksack and started taking them apart. It was obvious Missy was making something, but Clara had no idea what.

“I’m working on it, but I can only do so for thirty seconds at a time” the Time Lady clipped.

Clara nodded even though it was unlikely the other woman was paying her much attention. It was a little comforting that Missy was working on something, but it didn’t stop the feeling of fear that had settled over Clara. Her hands were lightly shaking, and she had clasped them together in her lap to try and hide the fact.

If she had been with the Doctor, she would have grasped his hand, if he hadn’t grasped hers first. Travelling with Missy hadn’t been half as bad as Clara had expected but in moments like this, she missed him terribly. The Time Lady would find it pathetically human. Still, she slipped her hand nearest Missy out of her lap and moved it blindly towards the other woman. At the last second, she chickened out and dropped the hand down into the small gap between them. She hoped her intentions hadn’t been noticed but doubted it. The Time Lady didn’t miss much.

She felt Missy shift slightly next to her and instead of the verbal rebuttal she had expected, she felt a slender warm hand slip into her own and entwine their fingers together. Clara felt her breath catch in the back of her throat and both the unexpectedness of the action and the way it made her heart beat just that little bit faster. What that meant – well Clara didn’t want to consider it right now. So instead she tries to simply focus on the contact let the feeling of warmth it brought wash over her. She felt safer.

“Thank you” Clara breathed - “can we swap?”

Missy hummed affirmatively in response so Clara slammed her eyes shut immediately. With one of her senses removed, and the utter silence in the meteor crater, it left a large emphasis on her other senses – the main one being touch. The nerve endings in her hand felt like they were tingling under the Time Lady’s touch, even though Missy’s hand remained totally still.

Clara’s thumb betrayed her and brushed lightly across the other woman’s skin. She heard Missy audibly swallow but the hand remained still in Clara’s grasp.

“You’ve seen weeping angels before with the Doctor?” the Time Lady half inquired, and half stated.

Clara smiled to herself at what she presumed was an attempt to diffuse the heavy air that had fallen upon them since linking hands. They didn’t normally do casual conversation either so she doubted it would lift the tension. At least it was a distraction from the weeping angels even if it only focussed her attention in more on the Time Lady.

“On Trenzalore” she agreed.

She had seen most things on Trenzalore. The first time she had been there (which was ironically hundreds of years after the second time) she had seen the ravages or war, a decaying TARDIS and been inside the Doctor’s time stream. The second time she had seen most of the worst of the Doctor’s enemies, all vying to reach the Time Lords – Dalek’s, the Shadow, weeping angels, Cybermen…

“When I chose you for the Doctor, I never realised quite how pivotal you would become” Missy noted - “you saved him on Trenzalore and you saved Gallifrey. It’s no wonder he is so obsessed with you.”

Clara squirmed under what appeared to be praise from the Time Lady. She supposed she had played a role in both of those things, perhaps could even claim credit for saving him when she jumped into his timeline. He had done most of the hard work on the other occasions – she had just pleaded with the Time Lords for more regenerations and pleaded with him, all three of him, as they stood over the big bad red button.

“The Doctor saved Gallifrey” Clara corrected.

“Poppet, the Doctor would have destroyed Gallifrey if not for you” Missy chuckled.

He did destroy Gallifrey. Or at least he thought he had for years – it was hard to follow how these things worked – had it become a paradox? That sad look the bow tie Doctor’s eyes had always held and the hundreds of years he had mourned and suffered – it had been for nothing.

“It’s a compliment” Missy cajoled - “I don’t hand them out often…or ever…so just take it.”

Clara didn’t think the Time Lord’s did compliments at all. Trying to get one of the Doctor was like trying to bleed a stone. So, when he did ever say anything positive it usually made her blush. Just like she was blushing right now. Luckily Missy was staring straight ahead at the weeping angels so would miss it this time.

“Swap” the other woman instructed.

Clara opened her eyes instantly and stared straight ahead at the aforementioned stone angels. They didn’t get any less frightful looking each time she opened her eyes.

Missy gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing her. Clara registered the other woman climbing to ger feet next to her and tried to figure out what an earth she was doing. The only thing she could hear was a strange scraping sound on the wall behind them.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Right I am ready” Missy declared – far too cheerful for the current situation – “swap so I can rest my sexy eyes for a few seconds.”

Clara obeyed and opened her eyes, pushing herself up to her feet like the Time Lady was without breaking her stare. She still had no idea what she was making and therefore what they were now ready to do. She was VERY ready to get out of this mess though.

“I am going to stare at them whilst you slip between them” Missy explained - “then you can stare at them whilst I slip out.”

They could have done that thirty minutes ago. Clara hoped there was more to the plan than had just been disclosed because as soon as they had to turn their back on the angels and try and climb, they would be caught and zapped back – or forward – to be trapped in the past.

“And then?” Clara pressed.

Missy leant against Clara’s shoulder slightly, mouth close enough to her face for the younger woman to feel the hot air of the other woman’s breath against her ear. Clara swallowed hard, desperately reminding herself she couldn’t blink, close her eyes or look at the other woman.

“Boom” Missy whispered – following the single dramatic word with a little giggle.

The Time Lady had built a bomb. Clara had no compunctions about exploding weeping angels up as long as they didn’t get blown up with them.

“Swap and go” Missy instructed.

Clara opened her eyes and stepped forward carefully. The two angels were still only peering around the entrance way with there hands outstretched. There was still plenty of space to slip past them without touching them as long as she didn’t trip at a very unfortunate moment. She stopped just in front of them and looked down at the floor carefully. It was quite even in this part of the passage, so she took a deep breath, turned herself sideways on to the angels and edged through the gap.

She felt physically sick at being so close to them, not just because she was scared but because they radiated this horrible cold air. So, when she had passed them, she virtually ran the last couple of steps to the opposite wall of the passage way and pressed her back against the meteor rock wall. The fact it was uneven and digging into her back was completely irrelevant right now.

“Swap” she called out to Missy – training her eyes at the back of the angel’s heads.

It was hard not to zero in on the Time Lady as she repeated Clara’s previous movements, tossing her rucksack through the gap first. She was very careful not to lose focus on the two menacing figures though, for fear of accidently losing the other woman to them.

Missy was a bit quicker on her feet than Clara had been and was through the gap in a matter of seconds. The Time Lady wrapped one arm around her waist and started to guide Clara backwards down the seam of the meteor rock. She could make out the sound of Missy shaking something by her that sounded a bit like a maraca. Just as they reached the first passage they had entered via, the Time Lady flung whatever she had in her hand at the weeping angels.

Clara was hauled rather ungainly around the corner and into the first passage, apparently no longer required to stare at the aliens. Missy pressed her backwards against the passage wall and covered Clara’s body with her own just as there was a large explosion in the area they had just come from. There was the loud sound of rock crashing down just a few feet away from them and smaller debris and dust blew through the area where they were stood, covering them both in a thin sheen of a powdery substance.

The sound was loud enough to make Clara’s ears ring, leaving her a bit of a daze. Although that wasn’t helped by the feeling of the Time Lady’s body pressed completely against her own. All those hard lines and soft curves that had been pressed into the back of her earlier were now pressed against her own curves causing Clara’s breathing to hitch. At what point in this mad journey had she started to become attracted to Missy?

The Time Lady pushed back of the wall, so they were no longer pressed together and brushed some of the dust from herself with both hands. Clara’s treacherous body wouldn’t move at first, so she remained propped up against the side of the passage.

“Are they dead?” she asked.

Missy had tuned away in her attempt to dust herself off but swung back around like a ballerina at the sound of Clara’s voice. A dishevelled, dust covered ballerina.

“Just buried I’m afraid” the other woman grinned.

Clara would have preferred dead.

Missy wiped some dust away from her cheek with the palm of her hand before reaching the same hand out to Clara. The younger woman took it without question and allowed the other woman to pull her upright and away from the wall.

“We need to get to the crater opening and away from here fast or we will have more unpleasant company” the Time Lady asserted.

The Chronovore – Clara had forgotten about it in all the excitement. Missy’s bomb was like a flare. A huge anachronism in a time when giant lizards roamed the Earth.

It certainly got Clara’s legs working again and the two of them jogged hand in hand back to the place where they had climbed down. She was about to start climbing when they heard a loud cracking noise above them, followed by a gust of wind. Clara remembered the eerie gust of wind from when she was in Missy’s 1920’s bolt hole country home. She swung around to look at Missy, who was frantically tapping something into her Vortex Manipulator.

“Please tell me we can jump from here?” Clara pleaded.

They were no longer inside the meteor’s walls so with luck it was no longer interfering with the signal. They hadn’t had much luck so far – just a continual stream of adventures.

Missy ignored her for a moment, completely focussed on the device strapped to her arm. Then, the other woman clenched her fist triumphantly. Clara didn’t get much of a chance to react before the other woman grasped her by the jacket and hauled them closer together. She collided against Missy just as that spinning, sickening feeling returned.


	8. In vino veritas - There is truth in wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their terrifying experience on the last jump, Missy takes Clara to 1920′s New York.

Clara’s head was spinning when they arrived inside a building, the only thing keeping her upright was the Time Lady’s firm grip on her jacket lapel. As soon as they were stationary Missy wrapped the other arm around her waist, securing her on her feet more steadily. To Clara’s embarrassment she realised she was shaking as the relief of their escape washed over her. She had a horrible feeling she may even cry. 

The Time Lady released the grip on her lapel and pressed the palm of that hand against Clara’s cheek. Tilting her face so Clara had no choice but to look into those piercing blue eyes. There was none of the wildness there that the younger woman usually associated with them, just concern and a touch of compassion.

“You’re okay” Missy said softly – trying to assure her.

Clara gulped as the other woman brushed a thumb gently across her cheek bone. The tears were still threatening to fall, and Clara gave in, seeking out the comfort she needed despite who it was offering it to her.

She flung both arms around the taller woman’s shoulders and buried her face into Missy’s neck. The Time Lady stiffened momentarily before wrapping her freed hand around the back of Clara’s head and pulling her as close as physically possible. Missy’s fingers lightly scrapped against her scalp in a surprisingly comforting gesture and Clara sunk into the contact further.

“You’re okay” the Time Lady repeated quietly.

Clara’s breathing began to even out – matching the rise and fall of Missy’s chest. She could feel the steady beat of the Time Lady’s two hearts and it was comforting in its similarity to the Doctor. He was usually her safe place after a particularly full on adventure, but she would never have expected to get the same safe feeling from throwing her arms around his mortal frenemy – or whatever the two of them were. Yet here she was, hands no longer shaking, and still wrapped around Missy.

Despite the stillness that had washed over her, Clara still felt the need to disentangle herself from the hug and put a little distance between them. Her changing feelings towards the other woman were confusing and in truth a little unwelcome.

She gently pulled back and Missy released her instantly. Clara noticed that the other woman avoided eye contact with her as they stepped apart. The other woman choosing to look down at the dust on her skirt and try to brush it away instead. But Clara wasn’t blind – she could see the slight blush across the Time Lady’s cheeks.

They were stood in another living room, of a similar period to the house Missy had taken her to in Kent after rescuing her from the Kroton’s. It certainly wasn’t the same house though as the décor was more urban than the traditional country style that house had exuded. The internal walls were brick clad, giving the room character. There was a large dark red chesterfield style sofa and dark wood coffee table. One wall had a large bookcase on it with a glass cabinet built in containing spirits and crystal glasses. There was a couple of pieces of artwork on the walls with swirling indistinguishable blocks of colour.

On one of the longer walls there were three large windows, looking out over what appeared to be a large city. It was obviously an apartment and not a house, which was also evidenced by the lack of a staircase but multiple doors exiting the one room.   

“Where are we?” Clara inquired.

“New York, 1926” Missy smiled - “just around the corner from Time’s Square.”

That piqued Clara’s curiosity and she moved away from the Time Lady and towards the window. It was bright outside and sunny, the sun flooding in through the large windows and bathing Clara in warm natural light. She had to shield her eyes with her right hand like a visor so she could clearly see what was outside. They were several story’s up and looking out over a skyline peppered with other high rises, but it was still a far cry from being the iconic image she was used to in 2015. She had always wanted to visit New York, but after hearing the Doctor’s story about how he had lost his last companions, she hadn’t dared ask him if they could go.

This wasn’t some apartment they had chanced by. It was somewhere Missy had deemed a safe haven when escaping danger – just like that first house in Kent.

“Another bolt hole?” Clara asked.

The Time Lady joined her by the window, squinting against the bright light as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Clara – both angled inwards toward each over to form a V shape. Missy didn’t answer in words and simply nodded her head in the younger woman’s direction. The other woman’s blue eyes looked especially vibrant in the afternoon sunlight as her gaze lingered on the profile of Clara’s face.

She could feel Missy’s stare on her, flushing her skin as much as the heat of the sun, but chose to continue looking out of the window. They had come dangerously close to getting time locked together – stuck at some point in history and unable therefore to save Earth or the Doctor. The fate could have been even worse if Missy had failed to get their means of transport working and the Chronovore had caught them. After all that they had come back empty handed. It left a bitter taste in Clara’s mouth.

“We didn’t even get the crystal” she voiced her thoughts.

Clara finally did look at the other woman then, interested in what reaction her words would garner. The Time Lady looked out over the city, but she could tell Missy wasn’t really staring at anything in particular - just deep in thought. Missy drew her lower lip between her front teeth as she mulled over the situation causing Clara’s eyes to linger on that dangerous yet alluring mouth.

“No” Missy agreed – “but I have a radical plan to get one.”

The Time Lady’s eyes darted towards the younger woman – returning to a more familiar skittish expression. Although Missy seemed apprehensive about their next course of action, she also appeared to be excited. It suggested wherever they were heading would provide another large boost of adrenaline and a high proportion of danger. As a general rule Clara liked a bit of danger – just not weeping angel or Dalek levels of danger. The Kroton’s had joined that list after what she had seen at UNIT and she didn’t fancy meeting the Chronovore to find out how terrifying or deadly it was.

“I’m not sure whether I like the sound of that or not” Clara chuckled.

Missy flashed her a wide-eyed smile before the look softened to something Clara didn’t have a handle on yet. The Time Lady lifted her right hand and delicately dusted some debris of the younger woman’s shoulder. It was a totally needless act considering they were both covered from head to foot in meteor dust. One tiny patch on Clara’s left shoulder did not a clean woman make. She looked at the other woman, intrigued about the physical contact and what it meant and what their plan was now.

“I’ll explain later” Missy promised – obviously noticing Clara’s questioning gaze - “go get clean, put some glad rags on and we can go get something nice to eat. I think we need it after today, don’t you think dear?”

Clara wouldn’t say no to a nice meal or more importantly a shower. In truth it had only been a handful of hours since her luxurious breakfast on the Orient Express, but it felt like a lot longer. Every minute that had passed under the glare of the weeping angels had felt like an age. And they were in New York in the swinging twenties – the Jazz Age. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Over an hour and a half later, Clara was sat across the table from Missy in a booth in a fancy restaurant. It was furnished with lavish red padded seat covers and ebony furniture. The walls full of expensive looking art work and the customers full of expensive clothing and jewellery. Unlike the Orient Express, where they had exuded wealth but a number of different styles, there were only two looks that prevailed here amongst the women.

Many, like Clara, wore short dresses in the fashion of what she knew as ‘flappers’. Hers was a little more understated then some of them around them – it was all one colour but made of the finest purple lace. When she had emerged from the spare room in the apartment, the Time Lady’s jaw had nearly dropped to the floor. Missy had been so struck by her appearance that it was hard not to take it as a compliment.

It wasn’t just the Time Lady that had been caught off guard though. Despite the fact Clara had seen Missy in something other than her governess style outfit twice already, it still floored her to see the other woman in a different outfit. Oh, and what a look it was. Missy was dressed in a figure-hugging knee length black pencil skirt and thin fitted black suit style jacket. Clara was convinced she was wearing nothing else under the jacket other than a push up bra. Dark auburn styles curls tumbled down over her shoulders, framing her face and its dark eyeliner, mascara and blood red painted lips.

She was starting to come to the conclusion that she had been a very bad girl in a past life and this was her punishment. It was her torment of Tantalus, to have to look at Missy dressed like every bisexual woman’s wet dream but resist falling into her web – or throwing herself very willingly into it.

There had been some stammering on both their parts, although the Time Lady managed to regain some composure first and complimented her. Or at least, the other woman had tried to in her own weird way.

_“Clara Oswald” Missy had purred – “you look good enough to eat.”_

_“So do you,” Clara had managed to stammer in response – “look good I mean…I don’t condone cannibalism…obviously.”_

The other woman had thrown her head back in laughter before offering Clara her elbow. She had taken it and they had made the short five-minute walk with linked arms, whilst Missy pointed out any famous landmarks or places where they would later stand. They had entered the establishment through a backdoor on a side street, where Missy had muttered a password to the two security guards there. It had dawned on Clara then that they were entering one of the many speakeasies that had popped up in New York during prohibition.

They had ordered cocktails as soon as they had been directed to their seats. Clara had asked for a Tom Collins because it was the only thing she recognised as gin based on the list and Missy had gone for a Whisky Sour. The waiter who had returned with the drinks had taken their food order and so they waited, sipping at their drinks, for the appetisers to arrive.

Clara had been content to slip into silence as she watched the people around them in what was a scene reminiscent in its splendour to something from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘the Great Gatsby’. Missy seemed content to watch her watch everyone else.

“Its amazing how hard you human’s fight back when denied something you want” the Time Lady commented.

Clara turned her focus back to the older woman who was demurely sipping on her cocktail – her eyes never leaving Clara as she peered over the glass. The fact Missy used the words ‘human’ and ‘amazing’ in the same sentence had caught her attention. She wasn’t sure the Time Lady quite grasped the nuances behind why these speakeasies sprung up during prohibition. It was similar, on a smaller scale, to why the British had been so resilient during the second world war.

“I don’t think its about how much we want something but about how hard we rebel against someone denying us our freedom or rights” Clara tried to explain.

_‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will.’_

It was a quote from one of her favourite books, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Clara liked the character because she was strong willed despite the fact she was merely a governess.

She was as determined as anyone not to be dominated or ensnared. Even her adventures with the Doctor had been on her own terms. Despite how much she loved them, Clara was still determined to keep her life here relatively intact. So, she had limited him to picking her up on Wednesdays. They may be gone a few days at a time, but she always returned on a Wednesday night – or a Thursday morning if he got his timing a bit sideways.

At first, she had done it so she had a life to return to if she decided it was no longer appropriate to travel with him. Then, after Christmas and the dream crabs, she understood that she could never give him up willingly. He still picked her up on a Wednesday, but they often travelled for weeks at a time before returning just moments after she had left.

“Well that I can appreciate” Missy smiled.

Clara looked at the other woman quizzically – she wasn’t sure if Missy was referring to freedom itself or the human tendency to rebel against those that tried to take if from them. She supposed the older woman would understand loss of physical liberty. She – or he at the time – had been a prisoner on Gallifrey before the time war.

“What?” the Time Lady smirked - “you don’t think me capable of appreciating anything involving humans?”

Clara certainly never used to think Missy capable of having any positive inklings towards the human race. Then she had awoken in the Time Lady’s bolt hole in rural Kent and it had made her question all her previous conceptions. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say in response, so she shrugged lightly before taking a long sip of her own cocktail. It was slightly bitter, probably due to the fact the prohibition gin was basically moonshine, but still pleasant enough.

“I appreciate you, don’t I?” Missy said flirtatiously – dipping her head and looking at Clara through her lashes.

“Do you?” Clara challenged.

Missy lowered her glass of whisky sour back down to the table. Her eyes drifting down Clara’s front, or as much as it was exposed over the table, as her forefinger swirled sensually around the top of the glass.

“Mhmmmm” the Time Lady hummed - “especially in that dress.”

Clara could feel her internal temperature crank up a notch or two under Missy’s lustful gaze and tone. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry despite the fact she had only just sipped her drink and she audibly swallowed in her attempt to wet it. When that had no effect, she took a large mouthful of the strong cold cocktail. Feeling some relief as the liquid slid down her throat.

Missy really was a whole different kettle of fish to the Doctor. Clara suspected he loved her in his own odd way but never in a million years would he try or even be able to express it like this. The closest thing to flirting he managed was a big goofy smile at an endearing moment. Even the younger versions she had travelled with or met just flashed silly smiles in moments when they were enamoured with her. Then again, none of them had been blessed with the other woman’s figure and facial structure. Missy was built for seduction.

“I didn’t think Time Lords flirted” Clara stated between cooling sips of her drink.

She was hoping to gently steer them away from dangerous territory. The truth was, she was getting less and less resistant to Missy’s charms. To make matters worse, Missy was also getting more and more charming.

The older woman leant forward, so her elbow was resting on the table and her chin was propped on the hand. Cerulean blue eyes held Clara’s gaze and Missy tilted her head and smiled flirtatiously.

“Good job I’m a Time Lady then” Missy winked.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

There was a live Jazz band playing on the stage now that most people had finished their meals. The volume of the music and the crowd of people now dancing, meant that both Clara and the Time Lady were leaning forward in their booth seats so they could hear each other over the noise.

“You don’t think it’s a little weird that a two-thousand-year-old man gets his kicks from showing off to young women and men?” Missy challenged with a wicked smirk.

They had got onto the topic of the Doctor over their main course. At first it had been Clara, gently pressing Missy to talk about their time at the academy on Gallifrey. The Time Lady had skirted around anything directly to do with her and the Doctor, choosing to talk about what they studied and how pompous some of their teachers where. Then they had fell upon a conversation about the horrors of the Cloister Wars and how the Doctor was the only person the ever go into the Cloisters of Gallifrey and come out again alive.

Somehow that conversation had led to this – discourse about the Doctor running away from his responsibilities in a stolen TARDIS with a harem’s worth of young Earth women. Clara had made jokes in the early days about him trying to kidnap her in his snog box. As time had passed, she had realised that she wasn’t just travelling with him as companionship and a pretty face. He needed her, as he had needed those before. As the years went by for him, he needed people more not less.

“I think those young women and men are full of ideals, optimism and hope” Clara tried to explain - “I think he needs that – a moral compass that is less jaded and war weary than him.”

 She wondered how disastrously he could handle some situations if left to his own devices. No matter how brilliant and kind he was, he had seen a lot of terrible things and held a lot of hurt and anger. Sometimes it felt like that anger could explode to the surface at any second if she wasn’t there to take his hand.

It would be so easy for him to see the universe through old eyes but because everything was new and wonderful for her it made it fresh for him. This was probably the first time Missy had consistently been in a human’s presence whilst travelling. From the odd way the Time Lady was regarding her now, Clara wondered if the other woman had just experienced a fresh perspective for the first time.

“Hope can be a dangerous thing” Missy sighed.

The words were only just loud enough for Clara to hear over the energetic Jazz song the band were currently playing.

The other woman finished off the last of her third whisky sour before placing the glass back down on the table next to her empty desert plate. Those stunning eyes stayed honed onto the glass and she turned it round and round with her right hand. The words and tone had been reflective, and her troubled pose suggested at an inner battle that Clara would not normally be privy too.

 Missy tried to act so impervious and banana’s, but Clara suspected a lot of that was a defence mechanism. The more time she had spent with the Time Lady over the last couple of days, the more Clara had realised that Missy was perfectly capable of being civil and even caring. Perhaps she even had more of a capacity to do so than the Doctor.

“There must be something that you hope for” Clara pressed - “I don’t think you are immune.”

The Time Lady glanced up from her empty glass, a surprised expression on her face.

“No not immune” Missy conceded - “just terribly jaded.”

The Time Lady kept eye contact with Clara when she spoke. Although Missy was smiling, it was a sad smile that didn’t reach the older woman’s eyes. She suspected it was the most open and honest thing Missy had said to her.

It still wasn’t clear what the Time Lady may hope for although Clara suspected the other woman truly did want to be the Doctor’s friend again. She clearly just didn’t have the first clue how to go about it without losing face. Did Missy hope for normal things? Did she hope for someone to love, or at least a person who cared about her? Had travelling with Clara for this short period of time given her a little bit of a fresh perspective?

“You obviously need a young woman or man to show off to then” Clara quipped.

Missy’s eyes had dropped to the empty glass before she had replied but Clara could feel as much as she could see the Time Lady’s eyes rake up her body before settling on her face. Occasionally, the older woman would look at her in a way that she struggled to interpret, and this was one of those moments. If Clara had to guess, she’d say a fond sort of amusement.

“Isn’t that what I have been doing?” Missy asked – dipping her head flirtatiously.

Clara dipped her head too, to hide her rapidly heating cheeks. Intentionally or not she supposed that was exactly what was happening. They had been thrust into this adventure through no choice of their own – well, Missy had willingly come to her rescue. As soon as she had woken up, Clara had presumed that their travels together would be fraught and filled with bitchiness and bickering. It had been nothing like she had expected, and Missy had impressed her and enthralled her just like the Doctor had in those early adventures.

 Clara’s presence may be giving the Time Lady a fresh perspective on their trip but vice versa could be said too. For a long time, since Danny’s death, she had been in a reckless spiral. The Doctor had noticed it, as had some of the people they had met on their travels. It wasn’t a conscious choice – it was only after she had done something reckless that she realised how much of a risk she had taken. She was more reliant on Missy in this instance that she would normally be on the Doctor. It had tempered some of that adrenaline fuelled impulsiveness.

It had also given her a fresh perspective on the woman sat opposite her. There was far more to Missy than Clara had previously allowed herself to believe. After the Cybermen army Clara had seen her as a sort of one-dimensional caricature of a bad guy. After Scaro she had thought she had fleshed the other woman out a bit but in truth she had still only been seeing her in 2D.

Clara glanced up at the Time Lady to find that Missy was gazing at her and probably had been throughout the time she had been quietly thinking. There was a flash of nervousness in Missy’s eyes when caught staring but the older woman didn’t look away or alter the soft and affectionate gaze that was focussed upon Clara. It made her mouth go dry again but this time she didn’t have any drink left to cover the very physical reaction to the other woman.

Then, suddenly Missy was climbing to her feet. Clara automatically presumed that they were leaving but then the Time Lady hovered at the end of the booth looking skittish. Then, before Clara had a chance to query what thy were doing now, the Time Lady stretched an inviting open hand out to her.

“Dance with me Clara Oswald?” Missy asked breathlessly.

Clara’s breath caught in that back of her throat and her heart hammered harder in her chest. Her mouth was so dry that she wasn’t sure if she could form words. So instead of verbally responding, she placed her hand in the one offered to her and allowed Missy to pull her up and out of the booth.

The Time Lady had an enormous grin on her face as she guided Clara towards a less crowded edge of the dance floor. It wasn’t the manic toothy variety of smile that she had witnessed before but a genuinely excited smile. It lit up the other woman’s features, bringing out the vibrancy of those blue eyes and highlighting all that wonderful facial bone structure. It was infectious and Clara found herself grinning like an idiot too.

When they reached a suitable space, Missy pulled her closer by the hand before stepping away again. Clara picked up the move quickly and mirrored the other woman, stepping away and then back together at the same time. Their eyes were locked on each other’s throughout, even when Missy spun Clara away from her and then back, they only lost eye contact for a moment. She giggled as the Time Lady spun her and was rewarded with a responding laugh from the other woman. Clara wanted to hold onto the warmth that she felt now for as long as possible. It was washing the fears and worries of this day away but soon they would be plummeting into danger again.  

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

As the band finished a particularly energetic number, Missy couldn’t help but grin at the breathless and beautiful woman in front of her. The two of them had no idea what they were doing at the start, but they had picked up some contemporary moves as they had gone along. Clara was quite an elegant dancer, something Missy was not. She did however have plenty of boundless energy which she could tell was amusing and charming the human woman.

Normally, when she ate out at places like this, the Time Lady would simply enjoy her dinner and then people watch for a while. Dancing seemed like such a waste of energy, especially on a crowded dance floor filled with sweaty people. Missy wasn’t sure what had come over her when she had asked Clara Oswald to dance with her, but she was glad to have done so.

That wasn’t entirely true. They had enjoyed a pleasant meal together and Missy hadn’t wanted to go back to the apartment yet. It had been a way to extend the evening without having to explain she was enjoying the distraction from their task or enjoying the company. Although, it was becoming a poorly kept secret that she did in fact enjoy Clara’s company.

The young woman was different from the other human’s she had met. She had identified that when picking Clara out for the Doctor but hadn’t truly appreciated it until there meeting in the Italian Plaza. Clara had played the situation wonderfully well, showing the perfect balance between fear, firm determination, politeness and disdain. The big brown eyed brunette had listened when she needed to listen, negotiated at all the right moments and pushed exactly when required. Then she had been brilliant when locating the Doctor’s whereabouts.

It had left Missy with a fascination for the other woman to add to a healthy appreciation for her physical figure. If someone can look good even when swinging upside down by a rope, then they had little to worry about. So, when Clara had used the number Missy had programmed into the phone when the other woman was unconscious, it had thrilled her. The other woman must have been desperate to ask for her help especially as it was by no means guaranteed. Missy couldn’t resist performing a second daring rescue of the Doctor in a matter of months – if only so she could lord it over him – and the opportunity to poke and prod at Clara’s resolve again had made it a double win.

Except, at some unknown point over the last few days, the desire to poke and prod had seeped away and had been replaced by something else entirely. Something Missy didn’t want to look too hard into at his present time, or name. All she knew for certain was that being around Clara Oswald made her feel pleasant and warm in a way she couldn’t recall having ever have felt before. Part of her was enjoying it, part of her hoped the feelings vanished as soon as they were not in close proximity to one another.

So, when the Jazz band began to play a much slower number, she really should suggest that they sit back down or leave. Instead, she placed a hand on the back of Clara’s elbow and drew the other woman in close. The young brunette came willingly, the only evidence of nerves or surprise was a slight widening of two already ginormous brown eyes.

Missy wrapped her arms around the other woman’s lower back, flattening her palms against the thin lacy material of the dress. She could feel the heat of Clara’s skin through the material and the heat radiating between them even though they were not quite touching anywhere else. Clara wrapped both arms around her neck and rested a cheek against Missy’s shoulder. It brought their bodies into contact and that warm feeling under the Time Lady’s palms multiplied and spread in the most pleasant manner. As they swayed softly to the music, all she could focus on was the woman in her arms and the way Clara’s soft breath tickled at her collar bone.

She would never understand the Doctor’s obsession with humans in general – but this human – this was an obsession she could completely relate to.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The walk back from the speakeasy had been a pleasant one. The evening air was quite cool but not uncomfortably so and Clara had been warm enough in her coat. The Time Lady had been pressed against one side of her, their arms linked together as they made the short journey. It felt like the end of a date except that they would be going into the same apartment together and not parting at the front door.

If it had been a real date, then it would have been a damn successful one. Missy would have definitely earned herself a second or was it a third? Did the evening on the Orient Express count? Clara hadn’t considered it in those terms at the time but in hindsight there had been an air of romance in Missy’s choice of location.

As easy and relaxed as the walk back had been, there was a tension as they stood in the lift together, waiting for it to reach the seventh floor. Their arms were no longer linked but they were still stood side by side, closer than necessary for the space they were in.   

“So, what is the plan now?” Clara broke the silence somewhere around the fifth floor.

Missy, who had been gazing out of the scissor bars at the front of the Otis lift, turned her head and smiled at the younger woman. It wasn’t the same sort of genuine, almost excited smile that had been directed her way whilst they had danced. It was the smile of someone who was lost in their own thoughts – a worried smile.

“You should get a couple of hours sleep” the Time Lady suggested.

Clara was tired but then that was no surprise when she had slept in a medieval hut two nights ago for only a handful of hours and then had her sleep on the Orient Express the next night was disturbed by a murder. Thankfully not hers.

A couple of hours sleep to top her up before they moved on would pep her right up again. Missy had promised her a radical plan to retrieve the crystal they needed. Clara hadn’t pressed all evening because she was happy to try and forget their troubles for a few hours. She wanted to know now though, so she had a bit of time to mentally prepare herself for whatever was to come.

“And then?” Clara challenged.

The lift came to a slightly jerky halt at their floor. The Time Lady stepped away and pulled the internal scissor door open, followed by the outer door. Missy stuck her head out of the lift and glanced up and down the corridor, obviously checking if it was empty, before stepping aside for Clara to exit.

“Then we are going to an unmanned satellite orbiting Earth in the year 2232” the Time Lady explained quietly as she closed the two doors back over - “your race has harvested the crystals from Mars by that point and utilised them in some of the systems.”

Now Clara understood why the other woman had described the plan as radical. They had spent days dodging around Earth’s near and distant past. Robbing a satellite in the future was an entirely different prospect. She suspected it would be just as dangerous as the time her and the Doctor had performed a heist at the Bank of Karabraxos. Except they would be taking something that was being used on a functional vessel.

 “Will the satellite be okay if….?” Clara began to ask.

“There are back up systems” Missy interjected.

The younger woman suspected that the Time Lady had seen that question coming. As much as she hated being predictable, at least she was predictable because she cared about others.

They had been walking as they talked and came to a halt outside of Missy’s bolt hole apartment. The Time Lady took out the key from her coat pocket and pushed it into the lock. As she looked down at the door, masses of dark auburn hair fell forward over her face and Missy used her free hand to rake it back with her fingers.

The Time Lady suited having her hair down, Clara mused. For a start, it was a fabulous mane of hair, much longer and thicker than her usual tight updo would suggest. It framed her face and softened her features when it was down – making Missy look less angular and ferocious.

“We won’t have much time at all to retrieve it and get out of there” the Time Lady continued as she opened the door - “either the Chronovore or the Kroton’s will locate us within minutes.”

Clara had seen the Kroton’s in action already. They could have control of all the satellites systems, including life support, in the blink of an eye. She was yet to truly see the Chronovore in action but would happily live without the experience. Surely, they could be in and out of the satellite (well technically on and off) within a matter of minutes?

Clara noted that Missy had walked them through the living room and to the door to the spare room where she was staying. Clara turned to face the other woman, who was stood about a foot away from her. Missy had stuffed both hands into her coat pockets – a very human looking pose on the Time Lady. Although she was looking at Clara, she was doing so under her lashes, her head slightly dipped. It was an awkward look – like Missy wasn’t quite sure what she was meant to do now.

Clara wasn’t sure what to say either. She had enjoyed a wonderful evening in the Time Lady’s company, and she couldn’t deny there was a growing attraction there. It even seemed a little less crazy than it had just a day ago because Missy was acting in a manner that indicated she was feeling it too. It still didn’t mean it wasn’t an ill-advised road to go down.

Then, the other woman slipped her right hand out of the pocket of her long black coat and reached out, slipping her hand into Clara’s left and locking their fingers together. It happened so quickly that it caught Clara by surprise. From the confused look on Missy’s face she had caught herself by surprise too.

The Time Lady gave her hand an affectionate squeeze before releasing Clara and stuffing the hand back in the coat pocket again. The younger woman was trying very hard to contain a smile because she didn’t think Missy would appreciate her finding it amusing. It was comical though, to have someone who was usually so acid tongued all in a spin over her. Comical yet very complimentary.    

“Sleep well Clara Oswald” Missy breathed.

The Time Lady began to shift backwards, making a retreat to her own room. Clara reached out and grasped Missy’s lower arm, halting the other woman. As determined as she had been to restrain her emotions, the way the Time Lady had bid her goodnight had made her heart race and her chest flutter. Like a hundred butterfly’s were flapping around inside her.

Missy looked at her wide eyed and hopeful as Clara stepped forward into the other woman’s personal space. The other woman was a couple of inches taller than her, so she pushed up onto her tip toes and pressed a soft kiss to Missy’s cheek. Clara lingered there, with her lips against smooth skin, for a couple of seconds before pulling back. Missy’s eyes were closed as she stepped back and when they opened Clara could see how dilated her pupils were.

“Thank you for tonight” she smiled softly at the Time Lady.

Her lips were still tingling, and those butterflies had multiplied. It was time for Clara to make a hasty retreat before she did something wild like kiss Missy for real. She smiled again before turning away and opening her bedroom door.

“Goodnight Clara” the other woman said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Night Missy” Clara smiled in response – before heading into the spare bedroom.

She closed the door behind her and leant back against it. Everything felt a bit surreal and confusing. Three days ago, she had thought herself in love with the Doctor. Well, she loved him without doubt but that wasn’t the same as being in love with him. Clara had thought herself perilously close to it, despite the promise she had made to Danny before he died. Now here she was, swooning over the Doctor’s rival and old friend like a love-sick puppy. Hell, not twenty minutes ago they had been slow dancing!

She wished she could blame it on the rush of adrenaline that adventures and travel delivered but it was in these quieter moments that the feeling became more pronounced and more troubling. Clara suspected that the only thing she would be doing for the next couple of hours was thinking, not sleeping.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my favourite chapter so far. Let me know what you think x


	9. Quinon proficit deficit - He who does not advance, goes backwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara and Missy take a dangerous trip to the future to get the materials needed to finish the extraction device. Its a race against time before they are located by something unsavory.

Clara was back in her jeans, blouse and jacket but at least they felt a bit cleaner. She had hand washed them before going to the restaurant the night before and left them to dry on a maiden in front of the radiator.

Missy was back in her normal purple outfit too, her hair tied back up again. Clara had thought that she would be able to separate day to day Missy from the woman she had kissed on the cheek last night, but her treacherous heart had raced as soon as she had entered the living room to find the Time Lady sat there.

On the coffee table there had been a pot of tea ready for them and some Danish style pastries, bread, cheese and a Parma style ham. It was basically a continental breakfast and Clara had no idea where the other woman had whipped it up from. She wasn’t interested in questioning it either, happy just to enjoy a good breakfast before they left. A breakfast that they shared in a comfortable silence, whilst Missy thumbed through an aged looking copy of Walt Whitman’s ‘Leaves of Grass’, occasionally peering over the hardback at Clara. It seemed a little early in the morning for sexually charged poetry but each to their own.   

It was still dark outside, indicating it was very early in the morning still. She had managed to get a couple hours of sleep after a fitful start. Enough to tide her by for the next twelve hours at least. Travelling with the Doctor meant that she was used to remaining sharp on minimal sleep. Clara had once gone three days without sleeping when they had been on the run from a very angry alien that resembled a sabre tooth tiger. He had insisted they were heading back in the direction of the TARDIS but had in fact taken them totally the wrong way to begin with and they had ended up lost in a rainforest. She had been really rather annoyed at him - not helped by the lack of sleep.

Just as Clara was finishing off her cup of Tea, Missy shut the book and flung it on the sofa next to her. The action was as dramatic as it was sudden, so Clara quirked a curious eyebrow at the older woman.

“Are you ready?” the Time Lady asked.

Clara nodded her head as the other woman stood up and smoothed her skirt down with both palms. The rucksack, which was still covered in dust from their last trip, was propped up against the sofa. Missy scooped it up with her hand and flung it over one shoulder. Clara stood too and pulled her leather jacket on. They were both wearing their Vortex manipulators on their wrists again. Last night Clara had tucked hers in the pocket of her jacket in case the Chronovore had found their location when they were having dinner.

“Are you?” she countered.

Missy looked a little twitchy this morning and not in the bashful, flirty way she had been last night. Clara suspected that tireless energy the Time Lady exhibited sometimes was actually an expression of apprehension or nerves.

“I’m always ready” Missy winked ostentatiously.

Clara rolled her eyes at the other woman, an expression that had been common for the first twenty-four hours of their adventure together but had been more redundant since then. She much preferred Missy’s more genuine attempts at flirtation but this silliness still had its charm. 

The Time Lady stepped around the coffee table and reached a hand out to her, the one with the vortex manipulator on. Clara was happy to take the hand and step closer to the other woman. She still found the trips difficult and disorientating so having someone to anchor her was valuable to her health and safety. The fact that anchor was an attractive woman was just a nice bonus. Missy smiled at Clara before reaching between them with her free arm and activating the device.

Clara was never sure if she was spinning or if the lights of the vortex were spinning around her. Either way, it was still a sickening feeling. When the spinning stopped, she closed her eyes and tried to shake the dizzy feeling as quickly as possible, trying to focus on the strong warm arms that held her upright.

Missy was not idle as she stood holding her up. Clara could feel the Time Lady tapping coordinates into the vortex manipulator behind her back. It was indicative of how little time they may have in this location, so she braved pulling up from the other woman and standing on her own two feet. She was still dazed but she was balanced and stable at least.

“The new coordinates are programmed in” the Time Lady informed her - “if we need to leave in a hurry then either of us can press the activation button.”

Missy stepped away and sat down at what looked to be the main control panel of the station. Whilst the Time Lady was tapping away at the controls, Clara took the opportunity to take a look around. It was a larger structure than she was expecting, and they were obviously only stood in one room at the front of the satellite. There was a corridor leading back into the vessel.

The main control room they were in was long and thin – perhaps 8 metres wide and twenty metres long. The walls, where there was no circuitry or viewing panels, were white with round yellow lights built into them. There seemed to be a common theme in the future – if they didn’t look like a scrap ship (all grey and drab) then they looked like a hospital. The environment felt sterile - perhaps it was.

“Locating the control panel now” Missy stated.

Clara turned her focus back to the other woman, trying to glance over the Time Lady’s shoulder at the screen. The hovering seemed to irritate (or distract) Missy though and Clara was rewarded with a glare.

“According to this there should be a rectangular panel below that screen to your left” the Time Lady instructed – pointing in the direction she wanted Clara to go.

The younger woman could see the panel just a few inches above floor level and on an acute angle. Clara dropped to her knees in front of it and tried to manipulate the locking mechanism to release it. She was at the wrong angle though and had to lie on her back to push her hands up into the catch. It popped off easily and she placed the panel down next to her.

“Got it” she called to the other woman.

Inside the panel there appeared to be a number of drive disk type objects all slotted into active ports. There was nothing on the exposed side of the disk or port that explained what it contained othered than a long serial number. You couldn’t just pull the drives out and had to deactivate them first. Clara wouldn’t have a clue where to start.

“There are at least eight different drives here” she fretted.

Clara could hear movement in Missy’s direction before her view was blocked by masses of purple skirt and a peek of white underskirt.

“Let me have a look” the Time Lady instructed as she dropped her rucksack onto the floor by the younger brunettes’ feet.

Clara had only shuffled a couple of inches to the side before the other woman positioned herself next to Clara on the floor, so close the whole of their sides were pressed together. Her concentration instantly fell upon the profile of Missy’s face as the Time Lady focused on the task at hand. She could literally see the other woman’s brain working its way through the problem and it was breath-taking.

“No, no, maybe, no, maybe, maybe, no, no” Missy thought out loud as she ran her forefinger along the spines of the drives.

Three possibilities sounded much better than eight – presuming the Time Lady was correct.

“I can only isolate these one at a time” Missy worried.

If the Time Lady used her sonic device then they could locate the correct one immediately, but Clara knew the device would be like throwing up a flare to their hunter. The other woman turned her head to look at Clara, just a hint of concern in those blue eyes. The younger woman smiled reassuringly before sitting up. They were still alone and the false atmosphere around them was settled and still. She hoped it remained that way.

“Eenie meenie miney mo” Missy muttered to herself – her fingers skipping across all three drives until she settled on one.

Missy pressed the deactivation button above the drive and the little green light flashed amber. Whilst the Time Lady waited until the drive was ready to be ejected, Clara stood up and continued her exploration of the control room. She presumed it was in orbit to take scientific readings although it was impossible to tell from the accessible monitor screens. They were there purely to perform manual diagnostics on. She hadn’t even asked Missy where the satellite was located. At this stage in the human races future, or history (depending on how you looked at it), they had started to inhabit other planets and even other systems.

“Not that one” the Time Lady huffed from her position on the floor.

Missy pushed the disk back into its space and waited for it to activate again before she could deactivate the next on. Clara could see the Time Lady’s hand impatiently tapping on the floor in what appeared to be a continuous irate rhythm. She decided that it was probably best to give the other woman her space or they would probably end up sniping at each other. That would be a shame considering how far they had come and whereas before Missy’s barbs hadn’t even dented her, she suspected they would hit their mark now.

So, Clara stepped even further down the control room, until she reached the viewing area. The large window like structures provided a clear view into space and of the planet they were orbiting. It was Earth and from distant viewing it looked not different from the NASA images she had seen from her own time. She had viewed it from the TARDIS too, when the Doctor had parked in space and they had sat on the edge of the doorway with a cup of tea and star gazed. It still amazed her each time.

“What is it?” the Time Lady asked.

Clara glanced back to find the other woman lay on her side, head resting on an elbow supported hand. Missy had been watching her, and close enough to notice a tiny change in demeanour.

“No matter how many times I see the Earth from space, I’m still always taken aback by how beautiful it looks from up here” she explained.

Clara half expected Missy to scoff at her or at least pull a face but there was no such reaction. The initial reaction was silence as the Time Lady’s concentration was drawn back to the disks. The first disk had obviously returned to green finally because Missy reached up and pressed the deactivation button on the second. Clara had already turned her attention back to the blue and green planet in front of her when Missy spoke again.

“From a primordial singularity to the solar system as you know it now – if just one event in billions of events had been different or hadn’t occurred then your planet could have never existed, never mind be inhabitable” the Time Lady said softly.

It was a more poetic outlook than Clara had expected but then, like the Doctor, the Master had run away from Gallifrey to travel the universe. Despite the differences in their outlooks, their desire not to sit around on their home world in splendid isolation from the rest of existence united them.

“All that terrible destruction on such an inexplicably large scale” Missy added, her gaze never leaving Clara’s - “yet it yielded something amazing.”

The Time Lady finding beauty in the aftermath of destruction certainly didn’t surprise Clara and she knew in terms of astrology and the science of space it was often true. Without explosions there would be no stars, without mutation there would be no evolution and without death there would be no life.

It was curious to hear these principles in terms of her home planet though, when Missy had always seemed to find it so small and meaningless. It was a question that had come up in Clara’s mind time and time again during their travels – Missy’s bolt holes providing evidence that she wasn’t as set against humanity as she had previously acted.

“I thought you didn’t like Earth” she pushed.

Missy pushed up onto her elbow a little more and grinned in a manner that could only be described as flirtatious.

“I wasn’t talking about the planet Clara” the Time Lady drawled.

The younger woman’s mouth dropped open slightly when Missy finished the words with a wink. The blatant flirtation was a cover for the deeper sentiment the words held. Clara was the product of those billions of events and the Time Lady had just described her as amazing. She didn’t think that anyone had ever said anything so romantic to her. Certainly not this regeneration of the Doctor and not Danny. He had been sweet but completely ineloquent when it came to sentiment.

Those blasted butterflies were back with vengeance again and she swallowed back the emotion she was feeling. It was a relief when Missy returned her focus to the task at hand again because it gave Clara a few seconds to compose herself.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Got it!” Missy called out cheerfully - the second drive had yielded a result.

The Time Lady was still on her back, but she raised her right hand victoriously. Clara could just make out a glint of light reflecting off the gem stone. Missy replaced the now crystal-less disk back in the drive and closed the panel up. When she stood up, she dusted herself off even though the floor was spotlessly clean.

The other woman carried the rucksack over to where Clara was stood, still staring out of the viewer, and placed the translucent yellow crystal in the younger woman’s hand. It was quite large, about the length of her palm but thin. Its depth was probably only a couple of centre metres. The shape was similar to that of a kite but was narrower at its widest point in proportion to the length.

The crystal was quite beautiful and ethereal. It had a feeling of something alien – something in the way it felt against her palm, like it was naturally warmer than the air around it.

Suddenly, the floor beneath them shifted dramatically as the whole satellite banked to the right. Clara closed her hand around the crystal to keep it safe and used her left hand to grab the edge of the nearest panel.

Missy rucksack bounced across the top of the panel as the Time Lady released it so she could balance herself too. One of Missy’s arms wrapped around Clara’s waist protectively to prevent the younger woman falling. The satellite kept banking, leering drunkenly towards the Earth.

“What’s happening?” Clara cried out.

“I don’t think the backup drive had activated” Missy explained - “gravity is pulling us towards the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Neither woman was in any real danger. They could leave at any given moment at the touch of a button. However, even something as simple as the destruction of a satellite in the atmosphere or worst still, crash landing on the planet, could have devastating effects not just directly but also in the shaping of Earth’s future. As Missy had said, billions of events had to align for certain things together. Remove, change or add an event and the results could be cataclysmic.

“We can’t allow it to be destroyed” Clara called out over the sound of the struggling engine - “we’re meant to be creating ripples not waves.”

The other Time Lord had told her that once – that they had to tread softly especially in history, but everything was history to someone and some point in time.

“Rather an ironic sentiment from someone who travels with the Doctor” Missy responded dryly.

The other woman was on the move before Clara had time to answer, scrambling back up the deck to the controls she had earlier located the panel from. Not that Clara could have argued back with the Time Lady. When the Doctor had used the same words on her she had scoffed and pointed out that he was a wave. He really was – a tidal wave would probably be a more accurate analogy. He’d had a hand in altering the direction of Earth’s future more than any human government.

The vessel banked even harder, causing Missy’s backpack to slide even further down the panel. Clara managed to reach out and hook a shoulder strap with the arm that grasped the crystal, preventing it from falling off and sliding away from them.

“I’m manually bringing the backup system online now” the Time Lady called out.

Within seconds of Missy’s words, Clara felt the engine thrust more from one side, pushing the right side of the satellite up again. It nearly caused her to fall flat on her face in the opposite direction, but she caught herself at the last second. Her grip on the panel was so hard that it was painful and her whole hand was bright red from the tension.

The inertia began to normalise to the point where she could actually release her grip. She shook the hand and wriggled her fingers, trying to return the blood flow and feeling to a more normal level. Travelling with Missy had one big similarity to her adventures with the Doctor. They couldn’t go anywhere without some sort of shit hitting the fan.

“Happy now dear?” the Time Lady smirked.

Missy looked so smug. Clara could see her grin from across the control room. She was pleased though; the other woman was right. The satellite was safe, they had retrieved the crystal and now they could leave. It was a result.

Missy could have easily ignored her plea to help and whipped them straight out of there but instead she had listened to Clara. Whether it be out of compassion on a desire to impress wasn’t as important as the act itself.  

So, Clara smiled back warmly at the other woman before taking a step in Missy’s direction. Then something happened – there was just the slightest alteration in the false atmosphere around them. It was like standing next to a high voltage power conduit. Like the particles around them were vibrating quicker than normal.

Clara paused, focusing a little harder on what her senses were telling her. There was a chill in the air, and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up and her skin forming goosepimples. She wasn’t alone in her alert pose. Missy was also sat bolt upright, her chin tilted upwards and her eyes wide and focused.

“Did you feel that?” Clara asked the Time Lady.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy turned her head towards the corridor leading from the control room with a look of disdain on her face. The cold sensation was familiar to Clara although less pronounced than she had felt it on the first two occasions. They were in a controlled life support environment this time, which probably explained the difference.

“I think that is out cue to leave” Missy stated.

Clara was in full agreement, she didn’t want to come face to face with the Chronovore on a cramped satellite. She didn’t want to come face to face with it at all. She stuffed the crystal into the top zipped pocket of her leather jacket to keep it safe and risk dropping it during travel.

The Time Lady stood up and raised her left wrist which held the vortex manipulator. She was just about to press the button with her right hand when the vessel lurched again, even more violently than before. This time, rather than just banking to one side, the whole satellite tipped nearly a whole ninety degrees whilst twisting slightly right too.

Clara was lucky because she only had to pitch herself a foot further to the right and brace against a panel to stop herself sliding down the length of the control room. She still impacted with the panel hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

Missy, on the other hand, tried to grab the chair to brace herself but to no avail. The Time Lady was pulled by gravity down the last few metres of the deck where she collided roughly with a panel in the far-right hand corner of the deck.

Missy’s feet hit if first as she tried to brace herself, but the satellite had become like a theme park death slide and the momentum flipped the Time Lady forward to slap her whole body into the metal. Clara could here the hard thud of the impact from the other end of the deck, but she also heard something that resembled glass smashing.    

“Missy?!” she cried out to the other woman – hanging out around the side of the panel so she could see the Time Lady clearly.

Missy hadn’t moved since impacting the panel and Clara was terrified that the other woman had been knocked clean out. That in itself wouldn’t be a problem. Clara could activate the vortex manipulator from the device strapped to her own left wrist and spirit them both out of danger. That smashing sound though – Clara had a horrible feeling if she activated the device she would be leaving alone.

Missy seemed to stir at the sound of Clara’s voice, groaning in discomfort as she rolled onto her back against the panel. Clara could tell that the other woman was a bit dazed from the impact. The Time Lady pressed her right hand against her chest and rubbed it carefully, having clearly taken most of the impact there. It was lucky really because it was probably the only area of the other woman’s body that had any padding.

There was a stronger gust of cold wind and then, in the entrance way to the corridor, appeared the same creepy white robot angel creature that Clara had seen in the country house in Kent. The ship jerked violently again on its arrival but remained at the same angle. Unnervingly, the movement and severe tilt of the satellite had no effect on the creature, and it stood completely still and upright. It may look ridiculous, but it felt dangerous and she really wanted to get out of there and fast.

“Missy!” Clara called out again – “your vortex manipulator?”

The Time Lady peered around the panel at the Chronovore and groaned again. She rolled back onto her back and reached across to her left wrist with her right hand and pressed the leather band there. Absolutely nothing happened, apart from Missy’s eyes bulging wide. The Time Lady lifted her right hand and gazed at it with a look of fear. Clara was struggling to see what was going on from across the control room, but she thought she saw a flash of blood on Missy’s finger tips where the cracked device had cut them.

“Oh bugger” the other woman grimaced.

It was a muted reaction for such a dire situation. There was a long perpendicular drop between them and a deadly immortal alien whose presence seemed to be ripping them out of orbit again.

There was a terrible creaking sound echoing around them, like the walls were being pulled in opposite directions. One of the panels to the left of Clara exploded, blue blames flames licking out of it. Another exploded just another few feet down the ship. Her body jerked in shock at the sound, but her eyes never left the Time Lady.

There was a control panel jutting out just a couple of metres further down the deck from her current position. It would take her a tiny bit closer to the other woman. Clara crawled out around the panel she was currently hiding behind, gripping the edge with both hands so she could swing into the gap between the two. It was harder than it looked, and she barely made it across, sliding into the panel below with a low thud. No doubt there would be a bruise or two but that was the least of her worries.

“Clara you need to get out of here!” Missy yelled.

The sound of twisting metal and a terrible cracking rang out. The viewing screen began to crack along one line, from one end of the material to the other. The damn Chronovore was going to take the whole satellite down with them on it. She had no idea if that was its purpose or if it was just an unfortunate side effect of its presence. There wasn’t much time to act before the vessel was torn apart in the Earth’s atmosphere. It would be a very unfortunate irony to be destroyed by the very planet she was trying to save.

“I’m not leaving you!” Clara shouted back.

She hung her upper body around the panel to glare at the Time Lady and to access what she could do to try and save the situation. Somehow, she had to get to Missy and use her own vortex manipulator to get them both out of there. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t leaving without the other woman.

Even if she had the inclination to leave Missy to die, which she absolutely did not, it would only delay Clara’s own inevitable demise. She wouldn’t have a clue of the coordinates to use to get anywhere else using the vortex manipulator, no idea how to build the device needed to read the base code and no hope of saving anyone - yet alone herself.

“Don’t be absurd!” Missy barked.

It really wasn’t the time to argue about it. The large crack in the viewer was forming secondary cracks and they were getting perilously close to the planet. Still, Clara couldn’t believe that the Time Lady thought that Clara cared so little that she would leave her behind.

There was only one option available to Clara, and that option was probably going to hurt.

She took the back pack off and let it slide down the floor of the deck to Missy, who was now directly below her. The Time Lady caught it but looked at her like she had completely lost her mind. There was a good ten metre drop between them on a surface that would do little to slow her descent. Missy had fell half that distance and had picked up a lot of speed. Clara only hoped that the fact this was a controlled slide would make some difference to the way she impacted the panel.

She swung her legs around, so they were hanging out into the open space, her upped body still anchoring her place for now. The plan was simple, she was going to hang from it by her hands like she had done with the last much shorted drop and hope for the best when she let go.

“Clara don’t you dare” Missy growled.

She didn’t pay the other woman any mind and pushed herself into position, her arms aching as she swung down. Her feet were much further away from her destination than they had been on the previous attempt. More circuitry blew up and burst into flames to the left of her. She could feel the fear rising and took a steadying breath before releasing her grip on the panel.

Things were still exploding around the deck as she slid quickly down the floor. It felt like she was moving in slow motion even though it was all probably happening extremely quickly. It was like a death slide she had been on as a teenager except there was no curved ending and mat awaiting her at the bottom.

When her feet struck the panel, they struck it hard and she was pitched forward just like Missy had been. Unlike the Time Lady, she didn’t smash into the panel chest first, because strong arms grabbed at her and hauled her against a warm body. Clara had never felt so relieved to be safe in someone’s arms.

The rucksack dug into Clara’s hip as she wrapped both arms around the other woman. Tears sprung to her eyes and her hands were shaking in a mixture of adrenaline and relief. She still managed enough dexterity to slam her palm against the activation button on the vortex manipulator, just as the heat surrounding the satellite started to overpower the chill from the Chronovore’s presence.


	10. Amantes sunt amentes - Lovers are lunatics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After barely escaping the space station with there lives things heat up between Missy and Clara…but are they both ready for what that means?
> 
> The rating goes up in this chapter - so enjoy x

They arrived in a heap on a carpeted floor, wrapped in each other’s arms. Thankfully they both appeared to be in one piece although the damn satellite was probably scattered in a thousand different bits on the Earth’s surface. So much for treading softly. The world was spinning wickedly and now all the adrenaline was seeping out of her system, Clara just felt like a shaking weak mess.

She rolled out of Missy’s arms, afraid she was crushing the other woman, and lay flat on her back. She found herself gasping for breath, her eyes stinging from tears and her limbs aching. She was more bruised and battered than she had realised in the heat of the moment. No doubt Missy was sore too after the way she had hit that panel.

The Time Lady seemed more shaken than normal by the journey and rolled onto her front. The other woman folded her arms and rested her forehead on them. Clara could see Missy’s chest heaving violently. She reached out and lay her hand on the other woman’s back to offer comfort.

They had come horribly close to dying again for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. They had both been shaken by the weeping angels, Clara more so than Missy. Shaken but not stirred. It hadn’t seemed like they could get themselves in any more danger than they had been in the meteorite tunnel. Apparently, that was a short-sighted view – they had definitely been closer to death just moments ago.

“Are you alright?” Clara asked.

Missy pushed her upper body up a little using her elbows and turned her head to face Clara. The other woman looked pale and dizzy. She looked how Clara usually felt after hopping across time and space without the comfort of the TARDIS.  

“If you think its disgusting travelling by the vortex manipulator when its strapped to your arm, you should try it without” the Time Lady groaned.

“I’ll pass, thanks” Clara chuckled - “especially if it’s made you of all people woozy.”

Missy usually appeared completely unstirred after their journey’s so it must have been really bad to make the other woman quite so dishevelled. She wasn’t the kind of person to lie on the floor for fun, even a carpeted one.

Clara rubbed the Time Lady’s upper back, stroking her hand delicately up and down her spine. She could feel each vertebra through the relatively thin material of Missy’s clothing.

The other woman lay there for another few seconds, a more relaxed look washing over her at Clara’s ministrations, before finally pushing up to a sitting position. Her skirt covered legs were flung to one side and she propped herself up on her right hand.

Clara pushed up too, mirroring the other woman so they were facing each other, but Clara’s limbs were facing the opposite direction. They were close together, with their knees touching but their upper bodies just slightly apart. Missy gazed at her with a confused expression. It was a mixture of many things. Clara thought she could see affection in there, perhaps a bit of gratitude and what she thought may be a bit of disbelief. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on in the Time Lady’s head at the best of times, but her expression was changing back and forward so rapidly that Clara had no chance of keeping up.

“What?” she smiled.

Missy reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of place behind Clara’s ear. It was just the simple brushing of fingertips against her temple, but the soft gesture gave Clara butterfly’s. Her eyes slipped shut automatically as her other senses kicked in. Missy’s hand did not remain at her temple and the Time Lady trailed those fingertips slowly down her cheek, over her jaw line and across her neck. The hand didn’t stop until it cupped the back of Clara’s neck, remaining still and uncertain.

“You could have gotten yourself killed” the other woman whispered.

It was said so quietly that if they had not been sat so close, Clara would not have been able to hear the words.

Clara did hear them though, clear as day. She opened her eyes again to find Missy’s gaze fixed firmly on her. It was a fearful gaze and not just out of fear for her safety. Clara knew that Missy would fear what her actions had meant – that they held a deeper meaning than just her own long-term preservation. For a woman who was used to living without feelings for others, Clara imagined that Missy may wish that no deeper meaning existed whilst simultaneously being hurt if that truly was the case.

The Time Lady cared about her. Clara was in no doubt of that any more. Even if she ignored the evidence of the evening before, it was still obvious in the desperate way Missy had called for her to leave. Missy was the great survivor – death was for other people – yet she had actively encouraged her only chance of escaping oblivion to go and save herself.

If Clara hadn’t started to fall for the other woman prior to than moment, then it would have lit the flame. Instead it had poured oxygen on the fire. It made Clara brave. Not just in her rescue attempt but in this moment - in the here and now.

“I told you, I wasn’t going to leave you behind” she breathed.

Missy looked a little floored by her words even though Clara had shouted the exact same thing at her on the satellite. They were a good ten metres apart at that point though, not ten centre metres.

Clara reached up, her hand trembling slightly, and cupped the other woman’s cheek. Her thumb danced lightly against the perfect soft smooth skin there, the tip caressing the corner of Missy’s mouth. The Time Lady’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact, her lips parted, and she let out a shaky breath.

“Clara” Missy said her name reverently.

She leant in slightly, closing the distance between them incredibly slowly so she didn’t spook the other woman. She wanted to give Missy the chance to pull away if this was too much for her but silently prayed that it wouldn’t be.

Clara brushed her lips against the other woman’s, pulling back just a fraction so there was a hair’s breadth between them. Missy’s eyes remained closed, but she closed the gap and mimicked Clara’s action, barely touching their lips together before letting out another shaky breath. Everything felt like it was moving incredibly slowly and the air around them was charged with tension. Then, Missy pressed her lips a little more firmly to Clara’s in a gentle chaste closed mouth kiss.

It was enough of a sign for her to continue and Clara pressed forward and kissed Missy more firmly, sliding the hand that she had been leaning on around the Time Lady’s waist and gently tugging her closer, so their bodies were pressed together too. The other woman let out a little whimpering sound before sliding the hand that had been cupping Clara’s neck into the roots of her hair and kissing her back. 

Clara could feel warmth spiralling throughout her body as their lips caressed each other. It was softer than she would expect from the other woman and there was a light tremble in Missy’s hand. Clara pulled the other woman even closer, so close it was impossible to tell where one began and the other ended.

Missy’s second hand wrapped around Clara’s back as she grew bolder. The tip of the Time Lady’s tongue gently probed at her lower lip and Clara opened her mouth to her. She moaned as soon as their tongues stroked against each other. It felt like sparks were flying in every direction – the world around them seemed to fade away completely and all Clara could focus on was Missy. Each slight movement of the Time Lady’s hand or caress of her lips felt wonderful.  

Clara had never felt like this when kissing someone before. It was passionate and hot whilst still remaining reverent and gentle. All those emotions that Clara felt swelling and multiplying over the last few days were raw and exposed. She wanted, now more than ever, to know if Missy felt as strongly about her.

Then, a strange feeling came over her. It was like she was being pulled into something, like planets were dragged in by the gravity of a black hole. Unlike a black hole, there was not just darkness in this place. There were thousands upon thousands of memories – many of them dark and troubling. Faces of different men, men she presumed were previous regenerations of the Master, doing terrible things.

Yet amongst the horror there was a sense of wonder at many beautiful sights and places across the galaxies. There was also a sense of hope and light beginning to push through that darkness. Most of it focussed directly on Clara and the kiss they were sharing. She could feel Missy’s emotions – her desire, affection and how much it confused her. She could feel how the warmth she had felt was mirrored by the Time Lady.

All the emotions, both good and bad, made Clara’s head spin as wickedly as the vortex manipulator. Yet, she didn’t want to leave the cocoon of Missy’s touch telepathy and the many feelings it enveloped her with. Clara became dizzier and dizzier until it was Missy herself that managed to tear them out of the connection.

Clara’s head was pounding, and she was panting – her chest heaving violently as she collapsed her head against the other woman’s shoulder. All her weight was pushed against the Time Lady as she tried to bring the world around her back into focus.

Missy wrapped both arms around her and placed a kiss to her temple. As Clara’s head began to settle, she realised that those lips and Missy’s body in general were trembling. She could swear she felt a tear drop land on her neck and roll down to her shoulder, but Clara was not crying.

“I’m sorry” Missy lamented - “I didn’t mean to…it just…”

Clara wasn’t surprised that the Time Lady had not meant for the touch telepathy to occur. It had left the other woman incredibly open and vulnerable. She was just relieved Missy wasn’t reacting with ire or frustration.

“I’m sorry” the Time Lady repeated – her head still buried in Clara’s neck.

“It’s okay” the younger woman assured her.

Clara trailed her fingers up and down Missy’s spine. She was sure the Time Lady had no need to feel guilty, it wasn’t as if Missy had gone for a trip around Clara’s own mind without permission. In fact, she was a little worried that it was her who had accidently triggered the telepathy. She had wanted to know what Missy was thinking and immediately it had happened.

The Time Lady lifted her head and gazed at Clara, eyes glassy from unshed tears. The other woman cupped her cheeks between both palms and rested their temples together. Missy let out a shaky breath as she smoothed her thumbs across Clara’s cheeks.

“I could have hurt you” the Time Lady sniffed.

It had been an odd sensation, both euphoric and unpleasant. At no point did she feel in any real danger or under threat. Clara shook her head, non-verbally disagreeing with the other woman. She reached up to cup the other woman’s cheeks too, but Missy ducked her head back and out of the way.

Clara was hurt but not surprised as the other woman drew back even further and climbed to her feet. Missy turned in the opposite direction and stood still facing out across the room. It was the first time Clara had even looked around the room. All she had registered on arrival was the carpet.

She was sat on the floor in the middle of what appeared to be the same drawing room that she had found Missy reading in when in the Kent country house. Except the décor was different – older for a start and without the electric lights. Clara was an english teacher not a history teacher, but she guessed the style was probably Victorian.

She stood up too and stepped towards the Time Lady – reaching out to place a comforting hand on Missy’s lower back. The other woman flinched at the contact but didn’t move. That reaction was enough to convince Clara to drop the hand back down to her own side for fear of pushing the other woman too far.

“There is a bath” Missy stated - “might help ease some of the aching limbs.”

Clara didn’t say anything in response. She didn’t know what to say. A warm peaceful bath would be welcome after their run in with the Chronovore but parting on these terms seemed intolerable. Yet, Clara could sense the shit storm of emotions swirling around Missy’s head like a tornado. The other woman would need time to process what had happened and it would do her no harm to have a moment to breath and ponder things as well.

“Now we have the crystal I can finish of the device” the Time Lady added.

Clara felt like she was being dismissed, which despite her willingness to give Missy time and space, stung a little too much to ignore. She wished she could rise above it. Instead, she removed the crystal from her jacket pocket and placed it down loudly on the nearest hard surface – which happened to be the small side table next to an uncomfortable looking bench sofa.

She didn’t wait for Missy to comment before walking out of the room in search of the bath she had been promised.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy had thrown herself into creating the device for hours. If she had been able to use her sonic device, it would have taken half the time but instead she was stuck manually altering and perfecting the settings on the device. It had been something of a distraction, having to do all that soldering and cutting by hand by a relatively small pool of equipment she had stored in this bolt hole. Only something of a distraction though, Clara and that kiss had never been far from her mind.

Now that she had finished the device there was nothing to distract her. Instead she sat in the library, with only the late evening light creeping in through the window providing any illumination. Her feet were propped up on the desk in front of her as she slouched back in the leather-bound chair.

She felt a mixture of so many emotions it was completely overwhelming her. There was the discomfort of being laid bare by her unplanned touch telepathy and fear that she had accidently endangered the one person she had ever come to truly care about except the Doctor. There was also the issue of what Clara had seen when pulled into her mind.

How could the other woman be interested in her after seeing all of that? They were probably over before they had even begun. That was the main reason why she had turned away from the other woman and pushed her away. Missy couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing Clara disappointed, or worse, disgusted by her.

Yet, amongst the negative thoughts, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way Clara had kissed her. It was probably stupid to dwell on it given it was likely to be the first and last time it happened. It was hard to shake it though – the way that Clara had been so gentle to start with – just a whisper of a kiss designed to ask permission and not conquer. The way that it had developed and fizzed with such a passion, unlike anything Missy had ever felt before. 

If she was anyone else, then these feelings would be something to cherish – something to celebrate. Missy had lived a long life and not one to be proud of. It was funny that only a couple of days ago she would have been. Well, perhaps she wasn’t proud, but she certainly wouldn’t have been sat in the dark regretting her life choices.

Something wet trailed down one cheek, something that felt entirely foreign to her. Then, to her horror, another dripped down the other cheek. Missy tried to rub the tears away, but they continued to fall silently and very much against her will.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara had tried to enjoy her bath but instead she hadn’t been able to switch off her thoughts. She had stewed over the past few days and the kiss she had just shared with the Time Lady throughout the bath and then afterwards when she had stayed confined to one of the bedrooms. There had been a copy of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ on the night stand so Clara had sat and read the play from cover to cover. By the time she had finished the light outside was fading fast and she had found some night clothes to wear.

The book hadn’t really distracted her – the romantic nature of the play probably wasn’t helpful. The fact it was a comedy of errors was probably well fitted to her predicament though.

She wasn’t really mad at Missy, she wasn’t stewing in anger, just frustration. Of all the people in the galaxy Clara could have developed feelings for, the destructive and chaotic Time Lady was probably only just above the Daleks on the list. Even rusty may have had a been a better choice for a romantic entanglement.

Missy had feelings for her – Clara didn’t doubt that. She just doubted that the other woman could give herself over to the feelings for longer than ten minutes before shutting down the notion entirely. Perhaps Clara was being too hard though? If the accidental touch telepathy hadn’t occurred and unnerved Missy, the afternoon could have been spent in a very different manner. 

Clara tossed and turned in the large four poster bed. She had heard Missy come upstairs about twenty minutes before. The other woman had been tinkering away downstairs all day being very practical and creating the crystal powered device. She couldn’t help but wonder if Missy had been trying to distract herself with work just like Clara had tried to do with a bit of Shakespeare?

She had been tempted to go downstairs all afternoon but had resisted, her resolve to give the Time Lady space remaining strong enough to resist. Now Missy was only a matter of metres away and on the same floor as her, that resolve was faltering. No, not faltering – the resolve was falling flat on its face.

Clara climbed out of bed and left the bedroom, slowly padding down the corridor until she found the door with candle light seeping out from under it. She took a deep steadying breath and knocked on the door twice. There was movement on the other side of the door and Clara nearly bolted back to the room she had commandeered. Her legs wouldn’t carry her – she was frozen in place.

The heavy wooden door crept open to reveal a surprised and weary looking Time Lady.

“Clara, what are you…?” the other woman stammered, before trailing off entirely.

The older woman was wearing a long blood red night gown and her hair was cascading down over her shoulders. The gown was very different from the one Missy had donned on the Orient Express. That one had been practically indecent whereas this one was quite conservative. A sign of the age they had jumped to perhaps?

Missy still managed to look sinfully good in it. Aided by the fact the Time Lady was wearing thick black reading glasses. They could look cumbersome on somebody else but on Missy they looked surprisingly hot. Clara was sure she was totally slack jawed and tried to close her mouth and look like a functioning mature adult. 

“Can we please talk?” she managed to reply.

The Time Lady still looked caught off guard but rallied well enough to step aside and open the door wider for Clara to enter.

The younger woman took a sneaky look around the bedroom as she made her way over to the chaise lounge at the foot of the bed. It was more elaborate than hers. Clara had taking up residence in a room that was mainly cream, the only patterning on the bed linen and curtains. Missy’s room was full of browns and blues – different patterns on the carpet, the wallpaper covered walls and the curtains. Somehow it all worked and came together to form a room full of elegance and character.

The Time Lady stepped past her and went to stand by one of the two large windows. She pulled the curtain opened slightly and gazed out into the night. Clara couldn’t decide to sit or not, so instead ended up hovering by the seat, inspecting its pattern to give herself something to do.

“I’m sorry about earlier” Missy said honestly.

Clara angled her body towards the other woman. She could see Missy in profile, a shadow cast over her face by the darkness outside and the poorly lit room. It made it impossible to gage what the Time Lady was thinking.

“You didn’t hurt me” Clara assured her.

That had been Missy’s initial concern when it had happened, and she was determined to reassure her. Other than a bit of a dizzy head, she had been completely unscathed.

The Time Lady turned to face Clara and slowly removed her glasses. The other woman took her time folding them before placing them gently down on an elaborately painted dressing table. She waited patiently for Missy to finish the task in the hope of a response. After a few more moments of silence hanging between them the Time Lady did speak up again.

“No” the other woman sighed - “but you saw things I never wanted you to see.”

Clara was surprised by the admission. The other woman had never shown any signs of guilt or worry over her past behaviour. In fact, Missy had previously revelled in the role of the cartoon villain. So, for the Time Lady to openly admit she was worried about how Clara would view her after seeing those memories – well it was quite telling. It gave Clara the final push she needed to close the distance between them.

She still moved carefully across the space, weary of spooking the other woman. Missy didn’t shy away but stood with a mixture of hope and fear across those sharp but beautiful features. Clara halted just a foot in front of the other woman and reached up to brush some of the dark auburn curls away from Missy’s temple. The Time Lady closed her eyes and let out a short, shaky exhaled breath.

“I didn’t need your accidental touch telepathy to see the worst of you, I’ve experienced it for myself” Clara sighed - “but I have also seen the best of you.”

She brushed the tips of her fingers lower, tracing Missy’s perfectly formed cheek bones before cupping a soft cheek. The other woman’s eyes remained closed for a few more seconds before she dared to open them and return Clara’s stare.

She had noticed Missy’s eyes and how brilliantly blue they were countless times before. She had even noticed when the other woman was pretending to be the 3W welcome package the first time they met. It had only been a fleeting thought though, as her observations had been on Skaro. Stood this close, and with such a soft hopeful look in those azure eyes, they were absolutely stunning. Clara could scarcely draw breath she was that lost in them. 

“Is that enough?” Missy asked quietly.

Many would think Clara mad for thinking or feeling this but yes – yes it was. She leant forward, closing the space between them and pressed her lips assuredly against the other woman’s. The Time Lady instantly wrapped her arms around Clara and pulled her as close as possible, deepening the kiss immediately so they were a tangle of tongues and limbs.

Clara’s hands were no less idle than Missy’s and they roamed freely over every gown covered curve they could reach. She moaned wantonly as the other woman scratched her fingernails, but not uncomfortably, across her shoulder and lower back. Missy’s wasn’t quiet either – letting out little high-pitched moans as they explored each other’s mouths.

The Time Lady’s kiss was all encompassing. It was wild and passionate, just like Clara would have expected from the other woman. There was no battle of dominance like she may have expected though – Missy seemed content to give and take control of the kiss. It made Clara dizzy with emotion and arousal.

Her hand hovered by the top button of the scarlet gown and they parted for air. Missy gazed at her through half lidded eyes, waiting to see what she would do. It would change things between them forever but suddenly that didn’t scare her anymore.

Clara smiled at the other woman, looking her straight in the eye as she undid the top button, and then the next…and the next. Missy closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against Clara’s, her warm breath stuttering across the younger woman’s cheek. Every button revealed more skin and no sign of anything else underneath, causing Clara’s heart to race faster and faster in her chest.

When she opened the final button the robe fell open, revealing Missy’s glorious body. Clara eased her hands under the material and ran her hands up and down the other woman’s sides – palms finally resting on the Time Lady’s lower back. Missy shuddered beneath her touch, her breath hitching. The other woman kissed her again – reaching for the two buttons at the top of Clara’s nightgown and fumbling them undone.

They broke the kiss so that Missy could pull the gown over Clara’s head, leaving the younger woman completely naked in the low light of the room. The Time Lady instantly pressed them back together again and they moaned as their skin came into contact. Clara virtually wrestled the other woman’s open robe of over her shoulders so she could feel and touch every inch of her.

Missy’s wicked mouth moved down to her neck, kissing and nipping at the delicate skin there. Clara buried her hands in the Time Lady’s hair, scratching her nails lightly over the dark auburn-haired woman’s scalp.

Missy kissed her mouth again, attacking the kiss with a renewed vigour as she guided Clara backwards towards the four-poster bed. The back of the younger woman’s knees met the mattress and she fell backwards on the bed. Somehow Missy managed to follow her down without either breaking the kiss or landing on top of her heavily.

The pace slowed dramatically once on the bed. Missy pulled back and gazed at Clara, most of the blue of her eyes swallowed up by aroused blown black pupils. Her right hand began to stroke and explore Clara’s body, starting from her cheek and moving steadily down her neck, over her shoulders and down her arms. The gentle touches left a trail of goose bumps in their wake and her eyes followed every movement, admiring every inch of Clara’s body.

Missy linked their fingers together and drew the hand to her mouth, kissing Clara’s knuckles before turning the hand over and pressing a soft kiss against the palm of the younger woman’s hand. It felt like she was being worshipped, such was the level of reverence in the gentle kisses.

“Oh god Missy” Clara moaned the other woman’s name.

All these gentle touches were driving her mad. Her whole body felt like it was thrumming with desire and she could feel the evidence of how ready she was for the Time Lady between her legs. Despite this, Clara didn’t want to rush the other woman or rush their first time together either. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and squeezed her thighs together, hoping to make the pressure a little more bearable until Missy had finished exploring.

The Time Lady drew her hand back up to Clara’s chest and cupped one breast, thumbing the already hard nipple in a circular motion before pinching it between her fingers. The sharp but pleasant sensation drew a loud husky moan from Clara.

 Missy gave the other breast the same attention before sliding the hand down the smooth place of Clara’s stomach causing the muscles to twitch under her touch. The hand stopped just short of where Clara needed it, pausing just below her waistline. Before she could protest, Missy dipped her head and latched her mouth onto the younger brunette’s right breast. Clara’s responding moan was practically indecent and drawn out as the Time Lady alternated between circling the nipple with her tongue, sucking it between her lips and grazing her teeth over the sensitive flesh.

The other woman switched breasts and gave the other the same attention. The hand on Clara’s naval pressed down firmly to stop her hips bucking up, something Clara herself was no longer in control of. She couldn’t recall ever being so aroused or close to the edge before someone had even so much as touched her most intimate parts.

She was also aware that even though she was the one that had started this, Missy was now firmly in control. Usually that would bother Clara. The Doctor was forever calling her bossy and a control freak and he was completely right – although she drew the line at ‘egotistical’. Somehow, she didn’t seem the mind giving up that control, at least for now. How could she mind when Missy’s mouth was doing such delicious things to her?

The Time Lady’s mouth moved lower, placing kisses down Clara’s abs as her hands roamed down and then up toned thighs. Missy pulled both of Clara’s legs over her shoulders before her mouth descended to exactly where the younger woman needed her.

“Oh wow” Clara praised.

The other woman was no longer teasing and drawing the experience out. Missy was going about this task with an enthusiastic vigour and an exceptional amount of skill. Clara entwined one hand in the woman’s wild auburn locks, encouraging Missy on even though she didn’t appear to need any encouragement. The other hand grasped at the thick woven bed sheet as she desperately tried to ground herself.

Clara was struggling to keep still against the blissful onslaught and Missy placed a flat palm on her hip to steady her. The other hand groped around the sheets by the younger woman’s hand until she found it and interlocked their fingers. Clara’s thoughts were very much focused between her legs, but she had just about enough control to squeeze the hand affectionately. She’d have never expected such intimacy and a need for connection from the Time Lady, but she was absolutely enthralled by it now that it had occurred.

Clara wanted to draw the experience on for as long as possible, but her legs were already starting to shake and tense around the other woman’s head. She had no control over the mewling whimpers and moans that were falling out of her mouth – most of them incoherent but there was a smattering of the Time Lady’s name and ‘oh gods’. Missy was silent either – occasionally moaning against Clara’s slick flesh as she thoroughly enjoyed going down on the younger woman.

Finally, Clara couldn’t hold on any longer as the pleasure overwhelmed her. Her legs clamped around the Time Lady’s head as her whole body shook and spasmed uncontrollably. A loud sound ripped from her throat as she tumbled over the edge into the blissful abyss. Clara was only thankful that it wasn’t a full-blown scream.

Missy slowly worked her through the orgasm, drawing it out for longer than Clara thought possible until she was sprawled across the bed thoroughly boneless and breathless. The Time Lady lay her cheek on Clara’s trembling thigh and kept their hands linked, smoothing her thumb over the ticklish skin of the younger woman’s wrist. Clara’s grip of Missy’s hair had relaxed and as she began to slowly emerge from her euphoric haze, she tenderly stroked the area she had been tugging on.

After what must have been a minute (most of which Clara had spent getting her breath back and her heart rate to lower), Missy slowly kissed her way back up her body. When the Time Lady was level with Clara again, she dipped down and kissed the younger woman tenderly and open mouthed. Clara could taste herself on Missy’s lips. She arched up into the other woman and kissed her more deeply, drawing a surprised moan from the Time Lady.

Clara took advantage of that surprise by flipping them so that Missy was now on her back and the younger brunette was hovering over her. The Time Lady looked excited by the sudden change of position and her eyes pupils were still blown wide. As Clara adjusted herself and slipped a thigh between the Time Lady’s legs, she could feel the copious evidence of that arousal.

Missy’s eyes slammed shut at the sweet pressure and Clara dipped her head to affectionately kiss the other woman’s sharp jawline. Her right hand trailed down the Time Lady’s body, her knuckles brushing lightly against perfect skin as she dipped between the valley of Missy’s voluptuous breasts. Clara would take the time to explore and appreciate them later but for now she guessed Missy would appreciate her attention to focus a little lower down that flawless body.

Her hand brushed lower before reaching its destination and Clara marvelled at how swollen and wet the Time Lady was for her. She eagerly kissed Missy’s lips, their tongues dancing together as Clara used her forefinger to stroke the engorged bundle of nerves. The moan that escaped the other woman’s mouth was sensational and spurred Clara on.

She alternated between stroking and circling Missy, starting with a light pressure before gradually pressing down more firmly. As the movement of her finger became more insistent the kiss became sloppier and sloppier until the Time Lady broke it and rolled her head back in pleasure. Clara couldn’t look away as she watched each flicker of expression and reaction on Missy’s face. She found her attractive at all times, even when it hadn’t been appropriate, but when the other woman was bared open like this then she was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. Clara tried to take every detail in and sear it onto her memory.

When Missy’s hips started to buck and writhe, suggesting she was close, Clara dipped the hand lower and pushed two fingers inside the other woman right down to the knuckle. The Time Lady let out the most delightful pleasured whimper – both hands grasping Clara’s shoulders tightly and her fingernails digging in to the skin. Not enough to cause the younger woman any pain but enough to leave slight red crescent shaped marks no doubt.

Clara slid her body against the other woman to give her more purchase and she thrust harder into the other woman. She kept the rhythm slow but firm, working Missy into a frenzy before pressing her thumb against the bundle of nerves so that every thrust of her fingers also stroked her thumb over the highly sensitised flesh.

The Time Lady’s gasps and incoherent moans increased steadily, and Clara could feel the muscles of the other woman’s body straining beneath her. When Missy reached the precipice of pleasure her whole body arched and bowed, calling out Clara’s name as all that built up pressure finally released in the most glorious way. The younger kept moving her fingers slowly in and out of the other woman until Missy’s trembling muscles released and she fell back on the bed.

The Time Lady’s masses of dark auburn hair were wonderfully dishevelled, and her chest heaved up and down. Clara pecked her lips before pressing her cheek against that heaving chest, so she was lay on top of the other woman, her hips resting between Missy’s parted legs. She could feel and hear both of the Time Lady’s hearts beating rapidly below her ear and cheek. Missy slid both her hands up from Clara’s shoulders and stroked them through the younger woman’s hair – mimicking the Clara’s actions from just a short while area.

The air in the room was chilly against her naked and sweat sheened skin but she didn’t want to move just yet. Besides, her front was being kept warm by Missy and her heated skin. She was nervous about what would happen now. If it was up to Clara, they would either go for round two or curl up in bed together. Missy, on the other hand, may have a different idea and expect her to return to the spare room.

The Time Lady’s breathing and heartrate normalised quicker than Clara’s and soon they had gone back to a more regular rhythm. Missy wrapped one of her hands around a bicep and tugged Clara back up, so they were face to face. Her eyes were glossy with a mixture of amazement and uncertainty. Clara automatically reached down to stroke her cheek to dispel whatever was troubling her.

Missy pushed up off the bed ever so slightly and pressed her lips against the younger woman’s. It was a feather like kiss, only lasting for a second before Missy pulled back again.

“Stay with me?” the Time Lady asked – a hint of vulnerability in her voice.

Her immediate reaction was to dip down and eagerly press her lips against the other woman again in a slightly soppy bit tender kiss. When she pulled back Missy looked hopefully back at her, those eyes now having returned to their normal spectacular blue colour.

“Of-course” Clara grinned.

The Time Lady smiled back at her with a genuine happiness that touched something deep in Clara’s heart (metaphysically speaking). She had to bite back any of the words that could potentially leave her lips in this moment – knowing that it was too soon for either of them to plunge in that deeply. Their actions had said enough for tonight, plenty enough.

The two of them reached for the corner of the covers for the same time, causing Missy to grin and Clara to giggle. It took a bit of shifting about before they hand managed to wriggle the sheets out from under their bodies and cover them. Missy blew out the candles on the bed stand, plunging the room into near darkness. Only one candle on the mantle remained burning and Clara doubted either of them had the desire to leave each other’s arms to blow it out.

Missy lay flat on her back and pulled Clara to her, encouraging the younger woman to nestle into her side. Clara was more than happy to curl up against the Time Lady and rest her cheek against Missy’s chest again. The warmth of the other woman’s body and the sound of the two steadily beating hearts lulling her to a peaceful sleep quickly.


	11. Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara and Missy deal with the aftermath of their intimacy and prepare to face the Krotons.

Clara woke up to a gentle palm rubbing her shoulder and a soft voice whispering in her ear. The room was dark apart from one candle on the on the mantle, indicating it was still night time as the curtains were not fully drawn. She was lay on her side facing the window enveloped in the warmth of the blankets.

“Clara wake up” the Time Lady repeated.

When she stirred the other woman peppered her shoulder with gentle kisses and Clara hummed in pleasure. She turned onto her back to find Missy lay on top of the covers, propped up on an elbow and fully dressed. Missy’s dark auburn hair was up but not in the usual well structured and coiffed way. It was sort of up in a high bun, with curls sticking out every which way. It was a look that suited the other woman and a pleasant reminder to what had occurred between them last night.

She wasn’t too disappointed to wake up without the other woman still in bed with her. Time Lord’s rarely slept – she reckoned the Doctor only got shuteye for about four hours a week. The bed was still warm and the pillow she had rolled onto held some residual heat which suggested Missy hadn’t been up for long. So, either the other woman had felt safe enough to sleep in her presence or had lay awake holding her for a few hours.

“Morning” Clara greeted.

She reached up and traced Missy’s jawline with the lightest touch of her forefingers before brushing them across the Time Lady’s lower lip. It was still a little swollen from all their kissing last night, just like Clara’s own. It wasn’t the only area of her body that was still tingling. She could still feel the evidence of Missy’s mouth and hands on her. It had been quite some night and she was pleasantly aching from it.

The Time Lady smiled down at her, her eyes glinting in the faint candlelight. Clara wondered why she had been shaken awake when it was still so dark.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“It’s still early but we have been here a while and I was worried our friend may catch up with us again if we lingered much longer” Missy explained.

In all the passion last night she had briefly forgotten about the fact they were being stalked through time and space by an immortal alien. She’d even forgotten her home planets plight – and the Doctor’s.

“Thought you might prefer to be clothed if it arrives dear!” the Time Lady added with a sly grin and wink.

“You thought right” Clara grinned, before leaning up and pecking the other woman’s lips affectionately.

She was glad to find Missy was in good spirits this morning and apparently not regretting anything that had happened between them. This was confirmed further when the Time Lady dipped her head and pressed her lips more firmly against Clara’s with a couple of open-mouthed kisses.

When Missy pulled back, she tried to chase the contact, but the other woman had sat up too far. So, Clara sat up too, holding the blanket to her chest even though there was little need for modesty between them anymore.

“I’ll make us some tea and breakfast” the Time Lady offered - “you skipped dinner yesterday.”

On cue, Clara’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t just missed dinner but lunch as well, and her body was making her well aware of the fact.

Missy got off the bed completely and retrieved some matches from the side of the bed, lighting the candle on the nightstand so there was more light for Clara to see by. The younger woman waited for Missy to leave the room before retrieving her night gown from the floor and throwing it on. Her clothes were in the spare bedroom – the one she’d had no use for in the end.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The two of them were just finishing a breakfast of a ‘cheese and potato’ pie, which was a bit like potato gratin, a grilled tomato and scrambled eggs. It had been surprisingly tasty which had amazed Clara because the Doctor just did not cook. She hadn’t expected Missy to be any different, but the woman was full of surprises.

Clara had briefly wondered how there was fresh food in the house but then the Time Lady could return to the bolt hole just minutes after having left. Time travel was funny like that – Clara could vanish off for a month with the Doctor in his snog box and arrive home 30 seconds after leaving.

The food had been ready for her when she arrived downstairs. She had found a white slightly frilly blouse to wear with her jeans, making her feel slightly less grotty then putting on the same blouse she had been wearing on and off for days. There had also been a thin grey Victorian cardigan with a delicate floral motif. It wasn’t quite her usual look, but it didn’t look too bad at all on her. Missy had greeted her downstairs with a ‘don’t you look very twee’ and kissed her affectionately.

“Is your device finished?” Clara asked.

She placed her knife and fork down, content and full after her breakfast and morning cup of tea. Missy was just finishing hers, so simply nodded in response. Clara didn’t know what exactly the device did or how crystals even held information. She was used to seeing wires and computer chips in the technology on earth. The TARDIS had arrays of crystals and other materials, but she had always been more interested in how to pilot it and not how it worked exactly.

She had asked once, when the Doctor had been in his bow tie regeneration. Ten minutes into the explanation she had stopped him and never brought the topic up again. Mainly because when she stopped him and asked him to dumb it down, he had explained that you pressed buttons, the bit above the console spun round and the TARDIS moved through the time vortex. The short description had been backed up with an array of hand movements and sounds which made it sound like he was talking to a small child. Clara had slapped him across the shoulder.

“So how do you extract data from a crystal?” she asked the Time Lady.

“A crystal of the size in your arm can hold up to 400 terabytes of data in something called photons” Missy explained - “my device uses an array of light through crystal refraction to extract the information.”

Missy finished her last mouthful of egg and placed her own cutlery down on the empty plate. Clara vaguely knew what a photon was – basic unit of light, elementary particle, no mass. If she recalled correctly, they moved at the speed of light in a vacuum. She wasn’t sure how they held information, and so much of it, in such a tiny space. She’d take the Time Lady’s word for it though. Of course, if a crystal that small could hold that much information then it begged an obvious question…

“How much data can a crystal the size of the Kroton’s store?” Clara inquired.

The other woman smirked at her, obviously pleased that she had asked the question. Clara watched as Missy did a very quick mental calculation. If Missy had given her the dimensions, she could have worked it for herself fairly quickly as she had always been good at maths.

“About three hundred and twenty million terabytes each Kroton” the Time Lady responded with a smug look.

Clara couldn’t help but grin at the way Missy was almost preening at the opportunity to show off in front of her. It was almost ‘the Doctor’ like – not that she was about to tell the other woman that.

On a more serious note that was a massive amount of data storage. She had no idea how many computers there where on her planet, but she wouldn’t be surprised if they only had enough data capasity to match just three Kroton’s. She understood enough about computers to know that it wasn’t just the amount of data they could store that was important. The Kroton’s were a huge memory filled crystal attached to giant computer processors on wheels.

“I think my laptop has one terabyte” Clara stated - “no wonder Earth didn’t stand a chance.”

Missy simply nodded. The younger woman thought it was the only response she was going to get but then Missy stood and moved around the table towards her. The other woman came to a halt next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Clara lay her head against the silky purple material of the jacket covering the Time Lady’s abdomen and let her eyes drift shut.

Missy’s hand stroked at her hair in what could only be described as an affectionate manner. It was more than a little pleasant to experience this side of the other woman. She suspected she was one of the few people that had. The Time Lady tipped Clara’s head back and bent down to kiss her softly on the mouth. It was a lingering kiss that finished as quick as it started. When Clara opened her eyes, the other woman had already straightened up and was gazing down at her with a sad expression on her features. Clara wondered why Missy looked so down suddenly – what could be playing on her mind.

“The device shouldn’t alert the Chronovore to our location, but we should get ready to leave in a hurry just in case” the Time Lady sighed.

Clara understood now. This was likely to be the last step before rescuing the Doctor, perhaps even their last time jump together if it all went well. That didn’t mean it had to be the last time they saw each other though, certainly not in Clara’s mind. Not that she had really thought through what came next for them after they rescued the Doctor. She did know last night wasn’t the one and only time she wanted to spend the night with Missy.  

Clara reached out and traced the lapel of the other woman’s jacket, enjoying the heat of the Time Lady’s body radiating through it and the soft thud of both hearts. She enjoyed the quiet calm between them and let it roll on a few moments longer. It couldn’t last though, not with the rescue of the other Time Lord now very much hanging over them and all the risk that would involve. They had barely talked about it since starting their travels together and Clara didn’t even know what their next steps were. The two of the had gotten distracted by their own adventures and in each other.

“Are you going to explain to me what the plan once we have the base code is anytime soon?” Clara inquired.

She looked up at Missy curiously and the other woman gazed back down at her with a sort of distant affection. The Time Lady stroked her fingers against Clara’s shoulder, rubbing her thumb lightly over the tight muscles there.

“Get ready to leave and then I will fill you in” Missy promised.

The Time Lady dipped forward and kissed Clara on the forehead before straightening up and walking away in the direction of the library.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Missy I don’t like this plan one bit” Clara groaned.

She frantically worried at her lower lip with her front teeth. Any plan was always going to contain a large smattering of danger – perhaps she hadn’t fully accepted that and now it was hitting home. Or perhaps she hadn’t expected the larger portion of danger to fall into the Time Lady’s lap. That probably wouldn’t have been such a concern if Missy had voiced the plan the first time they had stayed in this house in rural Kent. Now the idea of the other woman taking that much of a risk terrified her.

Perhaps there was less risk of Missy actually ‘dying’ but Clara didn’t want to see her regenerate either. It was an inevitability at some point, but she liked this body – liked the edges and the curves and the personality that came with it.

“It’s the only one I have” the other woman sighed.

When Clara remained unconvinced by the reply, Missy smiled a little more jovially, leaning across the desk towards her. The younger woman knew her well enough now to recognise a genuine smile from a false one. This was a smile aimed to portray more confidence than the Time Lady felt. Two days ago, Clara would have been fooled by the cocky toothy expression but not now. At least Missy was trying to encourage her with a bit of bravado though. The thought behind it was nice.

“It will work” the Time Lady stated – reaching her hand across the table as she spoke - “pinky swear.”

Clara looked down at the offered little finger and simply rolled her eyes in response. Her irritation made Missy chuckle and the other woman shrugged before pulling her hand away again. Instead of continuing the encouragement, the other woman turned her focus to the device lying on the desk between them. It didn’t look like much, but then Missy had bastardised most of the components from across Earth’s recent past. Clara knew it had bits of old wiring, old lamp filaments and fuses in it and the casing had been made out of an old cigarette tin wrapped in old tennis racket black grip.

She could be forgiven for thinking that it couldn’t possibly work but she didn’t doubt the Time Lady’s abilities. Missy had even managed to repair the second Vortex manipulator with very limited tools and the glass from a Georgian clock face. The rucksack was packed, and the two time-travelling devices already programmed with their next destination. All they needed now was the base code.

“I need direct contact with your skin, so you need to take those top layers off” Missy instructed – gesturing towards the blouse and cardigan Clara was wearing with her hand.

She wrapped her arms around herself defensively and glared at the other woman. Stripping for Missy was one thing – she’d done that already (and oh so much more) – but there was a risk they could have company and quickly. She really wasn’t keen on baring skin to an immortal stone angel chicken thing. Surely the stupid device could work through two layers of thin fabric?

“What if the Chronovore comes?!” Clara voiced her protest.

This time it was the Time Lady’s turn to roll her eyes, which she did very dramatically, rolling her head to emphasise the expression and finishing with a wide-eyed look of despair.

“I’m sure it has seen a woman in their bra before Clara” Missy clucked.

The younger woman could feel the blush rising up her neck and over her cheeks. When the other woman put it like that it did make her sound ridiculous. Clara started to unbutton the cardigan, all the while trying to ignore Missy’s pleased smirk as the Time Lady leant back against the bookcase and watched her like a hawk. Once the buttons were undone, she pulled the woollen item off and threw it at the other woman’s head. Missy caught it with ease and tossed it onto the corner of the desk next to the device.

The other woman’s grin gave Clara a bit more confidence and she started on the buttons of the white blouse. As she undid them Clara slowly moved around the table, so she was getting closer and closer to Missy. It delighted her to see that the Time Lady’s smirk fell away and was replaced by a look of barely contained desire.

Missy’s eyes followed the movement of Clara’s hand and then lingered on the smooth skin of her stomach as she removed the blouse completely. It gave her the opportunity to catch the other woman by surprise when she slung the silky garment over the top of Missy’s head, covering her face completely. The Time Lady slowly tugged the blouse from over her head and shook her head with a slight smile. The top joined the cardigan on the desk as Missy stepped closer and ran a warm palm down the arm with the crystal embedded in it.

“Your emergency exit better not take us anywhere crowded or I’ll be seriously cross with you!” Clara quipped.

It drew a smile from the Time Lady, who leant in and softly pressed her lips against Clara’s own in a quick affectionate kiss.

“Hold still” Missy instructed softly.

The other woman picked up the makeshift device and pressed down against the top of the tin. Suddenly, the crystal they had retrieved from the Satellite, lit up. It emanated lights with colours from across the spectrum, one after the other in quick succession. The Time Lady pressed it firmly against her upper arm, over where the Kroton’s crystal sat under hr skin. Clara bared her teeth slightly because it was still quite sensitive to the touch even though it wasn’t even noticeably present the rest of the time.

Missy held the device there for a nearly a minute. There was silence between them, but not an awkward one. Clara spent most of the time with her eyes closed, alert to her surroundings and awaiting the first sign of an eerie breeze rolling through the halls. Happily, no immortal bearing breeze came.

 “What now?” Clara asked, as Missy dropped the hand holding the device down and away from her arm.

“I suggest you put your clothes back on” the Time Lady smirked.

The other woman put the device back down on the desk and handed Clara her clothing. As she dressed, Missy put her repaired vortex manipulator on. Once Clara had put the cardigan on, the Time Lady handed over her own device which she put on her wrist.

As she buttoned up the cardigan, she looked down at the makeshift crystal device. Clara could here a faint hum emitting from it, so it was obviously doing something. She had no idea what it was doing though because it didn’t have anywhere that she could see that gave you any readings. Missy caught her curious expression and smirked again.

“The device is downloading the data from the crystal now. Once it has completed that I will extract the base code using my sonic device and sync it with the Doctor’s ridiculous sunglasses. Then we get the hell out of here and enact my plan.”

Clara understood why they were getting ready to leave in a hurry. As soon as they used the sonic device then they would definitely have a visitor. It left Clara caught between relief that they were finally ready to rescue the Doctor and Earth and a nervous energy about how wrong it could go.

That energy only increased when the device stopped humming, clearly finished with its task. Clara glanced up at the Time Lady. Missy was rocking on the balls of her feet slightly, looking alert and ready for action. There was a return of a more manic looking facial expression – a look that was more familiar to Clara than the softer more affectionate gaze that had been levelled her way for days. She liked the other look better but understood that this was a similar sort of restless energy that the Doctor got when the adrenaline was pumping.

Missy took out her sonic handheld device and waved it at Clara, signalling for her to retrieve the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses from the pocket of her leather coat. She put the coat on first, not bothering to zip it up, and then fished the thick black rimmed sunglasses out. The Time Lady was right, they were ridiculous, but at least they didn’t disintegrate people like Missy’s mobile phone like device could. Clara had nearly shot the Time Lady with it once. In the grave yard, over Danny Pink.

She tried to shake the thought away quickly. It had slipped to the recesses of her mind over the last few days – well, longer than that really. It should have been at the forefront of her mind considering who she was travelling with, but Missy had bewitched and beguiled her quicker than Clara would like to admit. Not that Danny’s death had been the Time Lady’s fault, it had just been an unfortunate accident. If anything, her anger at Missy at the time had been redirected from her own frustration and guilt at the fact he had walked out into the road because he had been concentrating on his phone call with her. All Missy could really be accused of was creating a plot that had ended up involving him simply because he had died.

Clara had promised Danny her words of love where only for him. Yet, she couldn’t remember ever having woke up in his arms with the sense of complete satisfaction that she had this morning. The Time Lady stirred something in her that she hadn’t felt before and that was both frightening and invigorating.

When she finally looked up from the sonic sunglasses she was holding, Clara realised that Missy had been stood silently observing her. She had wondered several times on this trip of theirs if the other woman could read her thoughts. If Missy’s telepathy was more refined than the Doctor’s – or if he was lying about how refined his truly was. It was clear the Time Lady wasn’t sure what was going on in her head this time because Missy looked a little worried. If the other woman had realised her thought process had ended with a revelation about how deep her feelings were starting to run, then a smug smirk would have been a more likely expression.

“Are you ready for this?” the Time Lady asked.

“No” Clara admitted – “but when has that ever stopped me?”

She’d spent months running head first into danger without blinking or stopping to consider how badly it could all go wrong. This was probably the most organised she had ever been when venturing into the brink. Yes, she was a little scared, but the adrenaline was also starting pump… and Clara loved a good adrenaline rush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always appreciated x


	12. Finis coronat opus - The end crowns the work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time to return to 2015 and rescue the Doctor.

The Doctor’s head was throbbing viciously, like someone was squeezing his temples together whilst tapping the crown of his skull with a mallet. Time Lords were pretty adept at ignoring pain, but it was impossible to ignore this. This pain wasn’t caused by a physical wound but by intrusive telepathic waves from the Kroton’s.

He wanted to press his palms to his temples to try and ease the pressure, but his wrists were tied together behind his back. The position was uncomfortable and pulled on his shoulders and the bonds were tight. Still, it was better than being burnt to a crisp by crack pot alien crystals. That would have been game over. This was still game on.

His main concern right now was Clara. He would be seen as an asset, that’s why he was still alive. She was just another human to them and would be dispatched off as brutally as the UNIT soldiers if caught. He’d given her a slim chance by handing her the sonic sunglasses. A slim chance to take back control if she could break back into the system and if that didn’t work then an even slimmer chance to escape into the general population.

Clara was smart and resourceful, perhaps the brightest and best of all the friends he had ever travelled with. She was certainly as brave as any that had gone before. If anyone could find a way to slog out the situation until a way was found to turn it all around, then it was her. He had to keep telling himself that because the alternative was too terrible to consider. He could lose her – could have lost her already for all he knew. He’d feared her leaving him or dying for months now. It had plagued him again and again throughout near misses and moments when he had genuinely thought she could be dead. The Zygon invasion, Skaro…when she had been teleported up to the Mire spaceship along with the Viking warriors. He had been almost paralysed in those moments, living only on anger and hope.

The Doctor wasn’t sure how she had gotten under his skin like this, more than anyone in his entire life. Even his own wife, River, hadn’t crawled that far under and he loved her. Not that he didn’t love Clara, he truly did, just not in any real romantic way. He’d had no reliance on River though – they had dipped in and out of each other’s life not only because of their messed-up time lines but also because they both had very separate existences. River had her adventures and he had his, occasionally coming together to have a few shared ones. He had become reliant on Clara though and was totally caught up in her existence.

The Doctor’s thoughts were broken when the Kroton rolling along behind him rolled forward and prodded him sharply in the back with its weaponry arm. He stubbled forward a bit quicker, apparently not previously moving fast enough for the alien machines liking. He had no idea where or to what the Kroton was taking him to, only that there seemed to be a definitive destination. He had come across them before but there was still a lot he and the Time Lords didn’t know about how they functioned. Was there a supreme Kroton like the Dalek hierarchy had evolved? Or was it just a hive mind? Hopefully the answer was behind the door at the corridor he seemed to be being guided towards.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara’s legs wobbled slightly as they rematerialized in a remote hallway of the UNIT building. She was obviously starting to get her sea legs – or in this case time vortex travelling legs – because she was nowhere near as dizzy as she had been on previous occasions. Still, her head spun slightly as she tried to get hear bearings.

The corridor was familiar, she had run down it when trying to escape the Kroton days ago. Well, days ago for her. In reality it was probably only a matter of minutes. It meant she was close to the control room where Missy had first rescued her from. The Time Lady was stood with her now, one hand resting lightly against her elbow to steady her.

“Give me those silly glasses and you take this” Missy instructed – handing her the Time Lady’s own larger sonic device.

“If you run into a Kroton at least you can disintegrate it” the other woman added.

Clara accepted the device and fished the sonic sunglasses out of her pocket and handed them over. Missy gave them a distasteful look before pocketing them herself.

The Time Lady tapped a couple of buttons on her vortex manipulator, ready to jump again. Clara hated this plan – she hated the fact they were going to split up and hated the danger Missy would be in. She reached out and grabbed the other woman’s elbow. It wasn’t the time for doubts and second guessing the plan, but her heart was racing uncontrollably at the notion that if it all went wrong then this could be goodbye.

“Are you sure about this?” Clara worried.

For a second it looked like Missy might reply with something curt or cutting but then her expression softened. The Time Lady reached up and cupped her cheek before pressing a firm and passionate kiss to her lips.

“I’ll see you soon” Missy said as she broke the kiss.

Then, with one tap on the wrist device she was gone, leaving Clara all alone in the middle of an alien invasion.

The younger woman took a deep steadying breath before making her way in the direction of the control room. She clung onto the sonic device tightly, knowing that at any moment she may have to use it to defend herself from one of those crystalline monsters.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy tried to relax back against the restraints as much as possible despite the banging headache being in the presence of the Kroton’s was giving her. She was stood against a board with her hands tied behind it by some sort of thin, strong wire. It was cutting into her wrists a little and the whole position was really rather uncomfortable. She wasn’t dead though, so hopefully the first part of her plan had worked perfectly.

The Time Lady didn’t enjoy being anyone’s captive though, even if it was an expected outcome of a very ingenious plan. She also didn’t enjoy having to rely upon someone else to finish the plan off and save the day. Not that she did much ‘saving of the day’ normally. She was normally the one people were trying to save themselves from. Missy preferred the power dynamic that way – the way which meant she had all the power.

It felt oddly satisfying to be playing the hero again though. She’d had a taste of it when saving the silly Doctor from the Dalek’s on Skaro but that had been less genuinely heroic. This time it had involved a great deal of selflessness, something that didn’t come naturally to her. Apparently, it was easier to be ‘good’ when trying to impress the object of your desires.

Missy had desired Clara ever since that adventure on Skaro. It had come as a shock to her because although she had always recognised the young human as attractive and wonderfully reckless (its why she had chosen her as the perfect foil to the Doctor), she hadn’t really noticed or realised quite how interesting Clara really was. It had dawned on her for a moment in the grave yard, when the other woman had been intent on killing her, that Clara had something about her. Those thoughts had all been lost in the moment when the Doctor had decided not to allow the young woman to corrupt herself.

As soon as Clara had stridden into the plaza to meet her months later and took her on verbal blow for blow – well that had more than piqued Missy’s interest. Wanting to strip somebody naked and do naughty things to them wasn’t the same as the intensity that had grown between them these last few days. The Time Lady had developed feelings – real, honest, strange, unnerving, wonderful warm feelings. It had made the stripping naked and doing naughty things part exciting on a whole new level. In a way that she had never ever experienced before.

The door to the room the Kroton’s had commandeered as her cell opened, breaking her from her pleasant thoughts. A tall, scrawny figure was practically shoved through the door of the room, before it closed again behind him. It was the Doctor. Missy took some satisfaction from the fact that although they had tied his hands behind his back, they didn’t deem him dangerous enough to strap him to a body board. They were underestimating him of course, but it was still amusing.

It took him a few seconds to notice her because he was busy trying to stop himself stumbling onto his face without the use of his hands. When he did spot her his face was comical – his jaw dropped, his eyes grew wide and his eyebrows did something utterly indescribable.

“What are you doing here?!” he exclaimed.

It was a stupid question considering she was clearly tied up too. It was obvious she wasn’t watching Netflix or riding a donkey – or whatever it was humans did in the 21st century.

“Oh, you know, just chillin’ whilst awaiting our impending rescue” she managed to shrug despite the biting restraints.

He looked at her blankly, stumbling a bit closer to the board she was tied against. His beady little eyes flickering across her face like he could somehow gain answers from just looking at her. Like she ever gave anything away that easily.  

“Who exactly do you think is going to rescue you?” he asked incredulously.

It seemed unthinkable to him that anyone would want or care enough to rescue her. It would have irked her if it wasn’t so amusing that it was his own precious companion. Absolutely nothing of what had happened with Clara had been due to her wanting to one up the Doctor. Now that she was looking at his doubtful, scrawny face it did feel a bit satisfying though. That the woman he loved in his own way had come willingly to her bed.

It was tempting to say something along those lines just to watch his face fall. It would only backfire further down the line though because Clara would be furious, and it would make the other woman doubt the reality of what had happened between them. Clara’s affection had been too hard won and was too reciprocated for her to risk. So, Missy decided to annoy him using different means. Surely Clara wouldn’t deny her a little of life’s pleasures?

“Well to be honest, I’m actually helping to rescue myself” she answered cryptically.

He glared at her – his impressive eyebrows nearly meeting in the middle with the depth of the expression. He’d had more traditionally attractive regenerations but there was something appealing about this version of him that she couldn’t put her finger on. Perhaps it was the amount of character he could convey with a single look or the fact he finally seemed comfortable in his skin again. There had been a ridiculous stage where he had gotten younger and younger with each regeneration, emotionally withdrawing and running from the terrible wrong he had thought he had committed on Gallifrey.

Missy had rather enjoyed it when it appeared that he had destroyed their home planet. As much as she enjoyed being part of a superior species, she had also come to hate her own kind and everything they had stood for. It was hard to mourn the loss of a high council that had chosen to destroy her life. It was also delightful to have the Doctor do something so dastardly – mass murder to prevent further long-term destruction. It had lowered him closer to her standards and he had hated himself for it. In reality Clara Oswald had swooped in and helped save the day, so it only appeared as if he had destroyed the planet. He knew that now – he had been able to let that grief go. It was disappointing to her that he was raised to his pedestal again, but she found herself pleased for him too. A confusing dichotomy of emotions that she always failed to understand or balance. 

“Are we playing riddles?” the Doctor sniped when an answer to his question wasn’t forthcoming.

The Time Lady smirked at him, causing the lines on his face to become even more defined. He was like a bear with a headache – in fact, like her he probably did have a splitting headache. That didn’t stop her wanting to poke the bear though.

“Tsk, patience, you grumpy old beansprout” Missy chuckled - “all good things come to those who wait.

He turned away in irritation and turned his focus to the room they were being held captive in. He’d obviously decided not to give her the attention he thought she was craving. Irking him was pleasing enough so she returned her own focus to her restrains. She may be waiting for her beautiful young rescuer like a damsel in distress, but she didn’t have to continue to do so in discomfort.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara had dodged into a side room and hid whilst a Kroton rolled down the corridor and away from the control room she had probably just vacated with Missy. In fact, it was probably the swine which had shot her in the arm with the crystal. That had left Clara nervous as it had passed by, fearful it would sense her presence via the crystal. Either the tiny crystal didn’t serve that sort of purpose, which would surprise Clara as otherwise it was pointless, or Missy’s device had downloaded the information and wiped it clean. That struck her as being much more likely.

Clara hoped the Time Lady was safe and sound. Missy’s role in the plan should have already been enacted by now and the consequences already met. She just hoped that the other woman was correct in her presumption that she would be seen as too valuable to kill, just like the Doctor. If Missy had miscalculated and Clara had lost her and possibly both Time Lords, it would feel like a very hollow victory. It was a terrible thought considering she was saving her entire race.

Once the Kroton had rolled around the next corner, Clara emerged from her room, still grasping Missy’s sonic device tightly in her right hand. In theory she could disperse a Kroton with the device if needed but she didn’t want to advertise her presence prematurely unless the situation was desperate. At least there was no sentient Henry Hoover roaming around the corridor, although Clara wondered where the Kroton Missy had dispersed had now ended up.

She eased down the corridor and towards the door of the control room. It was open and the door mechanism had been destroyed. Not even the sonic device would be able to lock the door behind her again. That meant she wouldn’t have much time to enact the plan before she had undesired company again.

Once in the control room she sat down in front of the computer she had tried, and failed, to hack into with the Doctor’s sunglasses. Things were different this time. Those very same sunglasses should have placed a little gift in the system around ten minutes ago. A ghost in the machine just waiting to be drawn out to haunt the Kroton’s. A present left by an ingenious and sexy Time Lady, who was hopefully safe and sound somewhere.

This time Clara pointed a very different sonic device at the computer and held her breath as she focussed her attention on the device. The screen was that faint orange she had seen previously, with black alien symbols scrolling across it at speed. For a moment that didn’t change – a moment that felt like it was stretching on for eternity.

“Please work, please work” Clara whispered out loud.

Then, like her prayer had been heard and answered, access was granted into the system and the screen returned to the format she had seen on previous visits to the facility. The sonic had used the base code like a password and now she had access to not just UNITs entire network but also the other government organisations the Kroton’s had so efficiently hacked into. 

Clara began frantically tapping at the keyboard, sending the base code far and wide to all the linked control centres and agencies. The human race needed to get the networks and devices under their control again and fast – she just hoped there was people still alive in all these locations to receive the code. Clara wasn’t naive – the Kroton’s would have had a combined simultaneous multi-pronged attack on Earth’s major defences. It wasn’t just the UNIT base that would have suffered a physical assault.

There would be thousands of people dead or injured due to this attempted invasion Nothing she could do now could change that because her original arrival with the Doctor had created a fixed point in time. If she had tried to go back before that an alter it then she knew from the Doctor that the risks were incredibly high. Clara didn’t want to be responsible for creating a rift in time and space or a tear in the very fabric of time.

Once the code was busy being passed around all the various British and International agencies that UNIT was linked too, Clara used a military satellite to beam the signal worldwide, just to make absolutely sure everyone had the message. Everyone…and everything. That was an important part of the plan too – it was part three if you like. Once she had started to take back control of the planet’s computers and handheld devices, she then needed to send a signal out into space. A signal that would alert the security protocols of the TARDIS that it was safe to come back.

Clara used Missy’s sonic to amplify the signal and act as a sort of homing device. It was of little use the TARDIS returning to the position it had abandoned them from because that was across the other side of the base. She needed it here and now, so she could implement part four of the plan.

The signal was sent and now all she could do was wait. This was probably the most dangerous part of the plan. When she was sending the signal internally from within UNIT, it was unlikely to be noticed instantly by the alien crystalline robots. A worldwide (and galaxy wide) signal was going to be noticed instantly. Clara just hoped the TARDIS arrived before a Kroton or even worse, the Chronovore. Missy had given her a very specific plan to deal with the Chronovore but that involved her drawing it to her in the Time Vortex and not here on Earth.

There was a deafening silence in the control room and the surrounding corridors. Clara stood, clasping the sonic device in her hand, her nervous laboured breathing the only noticeable sound. As the seconds ticked by, she could feel her chest tightening with fear. If she hadn’t succeeded then she was probably condemning Earth, the Doctor and Missy to a terrible fate.

Then, there was the faint sound of something very familiar. A sort of whirring sound that grew louder and louder as the air in the room seemed to shift and change. This time that atmospheric disturbance wasn’t due to the arrival of the Chronovore.

The blue police box she had come to regard as a second home slowly materialised in front of her, blocking the doorway of the control room. Luckily the door to the ship was facing into the room and not down the corridor or that could have been a bit awkward.

Clara stumbled towards the TARDIS and placed the palm of her free hand against the smooth surface of the door panel. It had never looked or felt so wonderful.

“Old girl, I have never been so glad to see you!” she effused.

The door opened under her touch, not requiring a key to give her access. Apparently, the ship was glad to see her too.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Missy wriggled her right wrist to the left and stretched her little finger out, trying to get the right angle despite the way the restraints bit into her skin. She was so close – just a millimetre more and even Houdini himself would be impressed with her. Then again, over her life time she’d gotten herself (or himself) out of scrapes and places that would have made Houdini cry. 

“What are you doing?” the Doctor grouched. He’d obviously noticed the look of deep concentration in her face.

The other Time Lord hadn’t been doing anything remotely practical and had simply stood watching the large screen pinned on the wall. It was connected up to a computer as part of a small conference room, but both appeared to be switched off. She couldn’t decide if it was an oversight to leave two Time Lords in a room with a computer or if the Kroton’s were that confident neither of them could break into their system.

His lack of action or solution to the situation made it all the more satisfying when she finally managed to slip her bonds.

“Magic!” Missy smirked – raising her freed hands in the air and wiggling them like jazz hands.

He glared at her freed hands and tugged on his own, grunting when there was no sign of movement there. It was all very petty, but it was hard to change the habit of a long-life time. He was always happy to lord his successes over her, so it was only fair.

The Time Lady stretched her arms out and cracked her shoulder blades. It was a relief to be able to step away from the board and resume a less rigidly upright position, she’d been tied up there for fifteen long minutes and that was fifteen minutes too long for her liking.

The Doctor angled himself away from her and continued to try and wriggle, unsuccessfully, out of his restraints. She sauntered across to the computer just behind him and switched it on, plonking herself down in the office chair and putting her feet up on the desk. Whilst she waited for the computer to load (and for him to give up) she took the sonic sunglasses out of her pocket. They may look ridiculous, but they were inconspicuous. The Kroton’s hadn’t considered that they could be a piece of high technology.

Missy placed the sonic sunglasses on, not for any practical purpose, but to wind him up when he realised that she had them.

“Do you actually have a plan or…” the Doctor began to mutter as he turned towards her.

His voice trailed off in surprise as his face went from surprise, to worry, to eyebrow powered anger.

“What?!”  he exclaimed - “How did you…? Clara needs them!”

Missy relaxed back into the chair even further, throwing both hands behind her head and using them as a cushion. He stalked closer to her, so he was hovering over her. She suspected that if his hands were free, he’d have snatched them off her or shoved her legs off the desk in temper. Instead he just scowled and then scowled a bit harder.

“Clara has the Missy upgrade” she replied dismissively.

The Doctor straightened up and looked at her quizzically. She could see the cogs turning in his brain – painfully slowly for a Time Lord. Had she posed him a complex mathematical problem he’d have figured it out in two seconds flat but something that involved other people’s thoughts and emotions – well there was certainly a delay in processing speed.

Eventually he seemed to form some sort of conclusion from her words, but the quizzical expression hadn’t left his features. Missy raised an eyebrow at him but had no idea if he would be able to see it from behind his sill sonic sunglasses.

“You saved Clara?” he clarified - “why?”

The Time Lady wasn’t even sure what the answer to his question was. Why had she answered Clara’s distress call? Curiosity? Boredom? Amazement at the fact the other woman had kept the number, never mind used it? The opportunity to cause mischief? Probably a mixture of all of the above and one other thing.

“I liked the way she asked for my help” Missy chuckled.

A text message from Clara Oswald containing the words ‘you’re so fine you blow my mind, HELP Missy’ was eye catching and amusing enough to convince her to act. Ironically, Clara probably hadn’t meant the first part at the time, or certainly wouldn’t have admitted to meaning it.

The Doctor looked at her blankly. He had no idea what she was talking about, so he turned like a petulant child and stared at the computer screen on the desk by her feet. It was still loading, and Missy mused how painfully slow twenty first Earth technology was. It meant she was looking at his back, with his hands still restrained there. Finally deciding to take mercy on him, the Time Lady reached out and grabbed the restraints. It caused him to jump slightly but he stilled as soon as he realised that she was undoing them and releasing him.

“Thanks” he mumbled.

She was about to take the sunglasses off and accidently clipped the button on the side of the right lens. Apparently, it was a shortcut to access the intergalactic net. Well, not the intergalactic net exactly – something much better.

“Ohhhh Doctor, your browser history is absolutely fascinating!” she exclaimed gleefully.

Some of it was just mundane searches for helpful information, think google on a universal scale. There were a few online orders, mainly of guitar parts or Earth records. Then there was the juicy stuff – the Doctor had some fascinating and quite frankly disturbing kinks. She was just accessing a page about naked green alien women in gimp masks when he grasped her skirt covered legs and pulled them off the desk. It nearly catapulted her forward and off the front of the chair.  

She pushed the sunglasses up onto the top of her head with an irritated expression. It wasn’t the fact she was prodding at him about his strange taste that had gotten him so excited. The computer had finally loaded, and it wasn’t showing the Kroton standard orange screen. It was a normal desktop.

“Someone is hacking back into the systems!” he effused.

That someone was obviously Clara Oswald. That meant that the first part of the plan had worked so hopefully the brunette would be arriving safe and sound at any minute. The Time Lady had managed to keep her anxiety at bay by irking the Doctor but knowing that Clara was in the middle of the dangerous plan right now – well that was hard to distract herself from.

Then the screen changed from the plain desktop. At first it looked like the screen had just gone black but then large white lettering started to scroll across the screen. Missy let out an amused snort when she realised what the lettering said. Clara had a flair for the dramatics too.

‘Hey Missy, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Missy, hey Missy x’

The Doctor emitted a surprised little squeak from the back of his throat. She didn’t even bother to look at him, her eyes totally focused on the words. There was a lovely symmetry in the use of the message and no doubt it would confuse and intrigue the Doctor.

The sound of the TARDIS rematerializing began to ring out behind them. Well, the sound of the Doctor’s TARDIS rematerializing – her ship was silent, his poor thing constantly had the parking brakes on. Usually the sound grated on her but today it sounded beautiful.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Clara had followed Missy’s instructions to the letter. She had flown the TARDIS into the Time Vortex, drawing the Chronovore after her. The damn think had arrived as expected and shoved the ship all over the place. She had used the TARDIS to release a controlled small detonation of Altron energy.

That had opened up a rift or portal to something the Time Lady had called the ‘six-fold realm’, sending the Chronovore back to its normal home and hunting ground. That had rocked the poor TARDIS around even more. It had worked though and both her and the ship were unscathed.

According to the TARDIS scanners, the plan had worked and the Kroton’s had ran for hills (or stars) as soon as they had lost control of the computers. Clara had to admit that Missy was not only hot as hell but also a clever little so and so. Perhaps even more brilliant than the Doctor, when she put that big brain of hers to good use and not anarchy.

She scanned the UNIT base for Time Lord biology and was relieved to find two readings together in the same room. They were both unscathed and had managed not to kill each other in the ten to fifteen minutes they had been trapped together. The plan really had gone off without a hitch. That was the part she suspected was most likely to fail.

Clara sent a little message to the UNIT base, purely to amuse herself and celebrate her and the Time Lady’s plan succeeding. She had become a pro at piloting the ship and landed it far more elegantly and neatly than even the Doctor normally managed – and without all the dramatic scurrying around the console flicking unnecessary switches and dials. As the ship finished materialising, she bounded over to the door, exuding a ton of nervous energy.

She was relieved that the invasion was over, happy that her best friend was alive, thrilled that her new lover (if that’s what her and Missy were) was okay and scared of how much the Doctor may already know of the ‘relationship’ and how he would react. The Time Lady may have been soft and caring with her, but she doubted Missy would be able to resist the chance to rub it in his face. Clara was a little worried that he would be jealous too and how she would deal with that. He cared about her in his own way and that appeared to be non-romantic – but he had been jealous of Danny. She suspected his feelings were confused and perhaps bordered the romantic even though he would never admit it. She had accepted that and moved on from it, happy with their relationship the way it was.

When she opened the doors to the TARDIS he was hovering just outside, with Missy stood behind him, a couple of metres back. He looked so happy to see her that his face nearly split in two with his huge toothy smile. As soon as she stepped out the door, he rushed the last couple of paces towards her.

“Clara!” he exclaimed eagerly as he scooped her up in a bear hug and swung her around.

Even though he’d done it before, in the Viking village after she’d returned from the Mire ship, it still caught her by surprise. She let out a shocked squeal and gripped on to him tightly so he couldn’t drop her. As she spun around, she briefly caught a glimpse of Missy over his shoulder, the other woman looking highly amused by his enthusiasm.

“Hi hunny bun” the Time Lady greeted a little sarcastically once he had put her back down.

Clara felt momentarily dizzy, although not as dizzy as she had after using the damn vortex manipulators and kept hold of his arms for a moment to steady herself. She glanced around him and smiled at the other woman in greeting. In truth she wanted to go to Missy now and wrap her in a celebratory hug, but he was still hanging on to her.

 “I loved the flourish” the Time Lady added - “whoever could you have learnt that from?!”

Clara thought Missy might like that little touch and it gave the adventure a wonderful rounded feel – signalling her imminent ‘rescue’ of the Time Lady using the same means she had begged for aid originally. Perhaps Missy was right, she had rubbed of on Clara a little during their time together and Clara had certainly rubbed off on her.

The jovial tone seemed to catch the Doctor’s attention and he released Clara so he could turn to the other Time Lord (or in this case Lady). She used the opportunity to dodge around him and approach Missy. The other woman didn’t appear to be expecting or ready for a hug, so Clara simply came to a halt in front of her and smiled warmly.

The Time Lady grinned back at her in a way that was far too affectionate for the Doctor not to notice a shift in their dynamic. Missy then lifted the sonic sunglasses she was holding in her right hand and placed them neatly on Clara’s face, a cheeky grin adorning her features as she did so. Clara quite liked Missy’s version of the sonic, except for the weapon part, but dutifully handed it over to the other woman in return. The Doctor had never offered her a device of her own, but she reckoned she could convince the Time Lady into making her one with all sorts of useful mod cons. It wasn’t long until Christmas, so she intended to drop a few hints.

It was odd, to have the Doctor there, and it made everything seem slightly awkward between them. Clara wasn’t sure if Missy would want to be seen showing her obvious affection in front of him or others so she hovered, waiting for some sort of sign that she could reach out to her. She was also aware that Missy could be waiting for her to act too.

Then, before Clara had made up her mind what to do, Missy closed the space between them and planted a firm but affectionate kiss on her lips. It was a simple, closed mouth peck, but was more than enough to draw a gasp from the Doctor. She ignored him for the moment and went to reach for the other woman, but Missy was already stepping back and out of arms reach. To Clara’s horror it looked like the other woman was going to leave. Her suspicion was confirmed when the Time Lady tapped something into her vortex manipulator.

“Call me” Missy instructed – making the phone gesture by her ear with her right hand.

It was followed by what could only be described as a cheeky wink before the other woman was gone, leaving Clara alone with a slack jawed Doctor.

“I’m not sure I want to ask…” he said with a surprising amount of good humour – before turning away and entering the blue police box.

Clara gazed at the spot where Missy had been for a few moments longer, disappointed that the other woman had left. She should have known that Missy wouldn’t be clambering into the TARDIS to go travelling with them and it wasn’t likely that the Doctor would even let her or trust her in his precious ship. That didn’t stop it stinging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last chapter to go....


	13. Amor omnibus idem - Love is the same for all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara makes the decision to reach out to Missy, but she has no idea if the Time Lady will take up her invitation.

They had made contact with Kate Stewart, relieved to discover that the main UNIT staff had managed to get to safety when the Kroton’s attacked. Kate had been very impressed with Clara and gobsmacked to hear of Missy’s role in the rescue. Not that she had discussed the extent of Missy’s influence and the number of days they had been together prior to said rescue. She certainly hadn’t disclosed any juicy details about what they had gotten up to although at some point she was going to have to address it with the Doctor.

Clara had retreated to her room on the TARDIS for a steaming hot shower and a much-needed change of clothes as soon as the Doctor had flown them into the Time Vortex. It was good to get out of the jeans she had been wearing for most of the last few days and put on some of her own clothing. Not that it was a vastly different look she was now sporting as she was wearing a different pair of black jeans, a black floral blouse and thin grey jumper. It all fitted her a lot better and the modern material of her blouse was far more comfortable.

She headed back into console room of the TARDIS to find the Doctor manically running around the centre console, flicking random switches and running diagnostics. Apparently, he was still running on adrenaline after being captured and now his Kroton induced headache was clear he seemed bright and alert again. A little too bright and alert for Clara’s liking. The last time he was like this the TARDIS nearly ejected them into space in temper.

Despite the fact he was flapping about the console, the Doctor noticed almost instantly that she had entered. He swung around in her direction and leant back against the console, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets and smiling awkwardly at her. He was still wearing his black suite with the long black jacket, so he obviously hadn’t left the room since stepping foot back on the TARDIS.

It felt a bit strange really – knowing that for the Doctor it was only a matter of an hour now since they had split up in the corridor. Yet for Clara it had been a lot longer, for Clara it had been days – and so much had happened in those days. She’d been part of a medieval battle, a murder mystery on the Orient Express, been terrified by weeping angels and the Chronovore, ate in a high-class speakeasy during the prohibition in New York, nearly died on a space station in the future and slept with his best frenemy.

That wasn’t really accurate, she hadn’t just slept with Missy – that would have been less of an issue. A quick roll around in the sack in the heat of passion could be regrettable but easy enough to write off as a one-off moment of madness. Clara hadn’t just slept with Missy – she had fallen in love with her.

She hadn’t considered the future at the time – hadn’t considered the effect of rescuing the Doctor would have on the little bubble they had created. If she had considered it, then it wouldn’t have made a blind bit of difference. Clara would have still rescued the Doctor obviously, but perhaps her and Missy could have conversed about the future first.

One thing was clear, if Clara was to make this work, she was going to have to go to Missy or at least have the Time Lady meet her half way. So that was exactly what she was going to do – meet the other woman somewhere.

“Hey!” The Doctor greeted when she didn’t say anything.

He looked like a small school boy who had been caught getting up to mischief by his favourite schoolteacher.

“Hey” she greeted in return.

Clara stepped a bit closer to him and stuffed her own hands in her pockets. He was so much taller than her that stood this close to him she had to crane her head up to look him in the eyes. He used to be awful at eye contact but had gotten much better as they had grown more accustomed to each other. Today he had reverted to his old avoidance techniques – his eyes dodging around the room, so they looked at everything but her own.

“So, I thought I could take you to the second most beautiful gardens in the Universe?” he suggested.

The Doctor was emitting a quiet nervous energy. She could feel it buzzing in the air around him, filling the space between them and making her nervous too. He could be oblivious sometimes but usually to his own emotions or those directed at him. He was surprisingly sharp at picking up nuances in other people. Clara was sure he had an idea of what was going on and was uncomfortable with it.

“you like that sort of thing, right? You usually like that sort of thing” he added a bit too eagerly.

Clara did like that sort of thing. In between the adventures where they found themselves running for their lives, she loved visiting planets or solar systems with beautiful features. He had taken her to planets with purple oceans and pink skies, star systems with the most amazing nebula formations and planet made up of the most and vast lakes.

“Is that its actual name?” Clara chuckled.

It sounded more like a description. The places he had taken her too previously had proper names.

“No…its name doesn’t translate very well into English – it just a series of clicking sounds” the Doctor stumbled adorably over his words - “so that’s more like its tag line, Its mission statement.”

Clara doubted that any planet’s mission would be to have the ‘second’ most beautiful gardens in the universe. She really did like going places like that, especially after a couple of very intense and dangerous adventures one after the other. It was like a holiday and the Doctor was her tour guide.

“I’d love to go but…” Clara stumbled over her words - “can we put it on ice for a little while? I need a few days to do something first if that’s okay?”

She wasn’t sure how to really broch this subject with him and his despondent look wasn’t helping matters. He looked like a kicked puppy and she always found it hard to resist or deny him anything when he looked at her like that. Not that he ever wanted much – just for her to come with him in his magic blue box.

“Are you angry with me? Is it because I had to leave it up to you to save the world again?” the Doctor worried.  

It had been a long time since she had nearly left him – when he’d pushed her to the point that she was so angry with him that she had considered never travelling with him again. He had left her on the moon, with one of her students, to decide the future of the Earth. Did she risk allowing the moon to hatch and possibly destroying her planet in the process? Or did she destroy the creature inside the moon leaving it the dead husk they had always thought it was? It was too big a decision to be left on her shoulders and she was angry with him for leaving. So, so angry.

It was over a year ago now – well over a year. She had forgiven him and moved on and he had learnt from it too. To be honest if he put her in the same situation now then she would probably relish it. Both Time Lords were correct in noting she had become more reckless and much more like him. She supposed it was a symptom of travelling with the Doctor – your brain starts to become hardwired a different way.

“No, it’s not about you” she assured him after an awkward pause between them.

“Is it about Missy?” he asked instantly.

Clara hadn’t expected the first question and the leap from that to the second question caught her equally off guard. She wasn’t sure exactly how to answer him – just saying yes was both too simple and too complicated. Instead she ran her right hand through her hair as she searched for a succinct yet reasonable response. Of course, her silence and obvious jitteriness gave him all the answer he needed.

“She’s dangerous” he pointed out.

It was rather unnecessary in Clara’s opinion; she’d seen the worse of the other woman too and he knew it. It was also hypocritical – she had been in danger at least one in every three times she had stepped outside the TARDIS with him. Granted that was from other people not him, but he still knowingly put her in those situations.

“She’s a Time Lord” Clara replied flatly.

Her tone didn’t give much room for argument and he gave her none. What could he say? Just a few days ago they had been running for their lives from sentient sleep dust. The list of other times she had been in danger of being killed or something as equally horrific was as long as her arm – no his arm – his gangly arms were longer than hers.

 “Yes” he agreed with a soft, sad sigh.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Despite his concerns the Doctor had let her tell him about her and Missy’s adventures. Clara had omitted the less PG rated bits, but the implication was there. Even though he was poor at social cues he wasn’t completely stupid. There had been a softening in his tone as they talked although he was still weary. Hell, he was right to still be weary – what kind of friend would he be if he wasn’t. Clara was still weary too, but she couldn’t ignore how she felt. Unlike the two Time Lords her life would be too short to miss out on moments like this.

They had sat down on the steps to the upper level of the console room as she talked. He had strummed quietly on his guitar throughout, listening intently but obviously needing something to keep his hands busy. It was the only way he could sit still for any period of time – if he could fiddle with something. He was like a child with ADHD.

Clara had text Missy once she had finished her story whilst he had played Claire de Lune on the guitar. She hadn’t heard it played on the guitar before, only the piano. It was less haunting but still as melodic. She suspected it still expressed his sad mood. He had never let her love him – had pushed back since this regeneration – and she wondered briefly if he regretted it now. She shook the thought off quickly though, deciding it was best to presume he was just worried she wouldn’t be travelling with him again. That wasn’t the case – she had every intention of splitting her time between the two of them if her plan worked.

Her phone vibrated in her hands and Clara glanced down at the screen. Missy had simply replied to her message with a winking emoji face. She had hoped for a clearer answer, but she presumed it was a yes. So, she placed the phone back in her coat pocket and took a deep steadying breath.

“Can you take me to modern day Paris?” she asked delicately.

He stopped playing his guitar, his right hand pausing flat across all six strings. He turned his head to look at her with an inquisitive raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

“The City of romance?” he chuckled.

“Do you think that’s too cliché?” Clara worried.

Perhaps it was a bit too gaudy a choice and that’s why the Time Lady had sent an amused winking face? Clara had thought it would be nice to spend some time somewhere they could just blend in to the back ground like any other tourists without risk of being dragged into any deadly adventures. They could take a walk along Seine, visit the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, drink tea in a pretty French Plaza. Stay in the Four Seasons George V Hotel in luxury for a few nights. Clara would have to deplete her savings to do so but it felt worth it.

“Well…” the Doctor smiled - “it’s certainly to the point.”

Clara supposed that wasn’t really a bad thing – she was trying to make a point after all. Missy had left to give her space to decide what she wanted, or at least Clara had interpreted it as such. She wanted the Time Lady. This was as good a way as any of showing the other woman that.

“Anywhere in particular?” he asked.

She had told Missy a specific location. Clara had always wanted to visit Paris and had read extensively about it. She had chosen one of its most attractive squares, hoping they could sit down over a cup of tea and French pastry and talk.

“Place des Vosges please” Clara requested.

The Doctor stood up and went to the centre console, less animatedly working the controls than normal. It wasn’t like he could prevent her going, not when she could fly the TARDIS herself just as effectively as him, but it was nice to have enough support from him that he let her go willingly.

“I’ll text you when I’m ready to be picked up so keep your phone on you old man” she instructed as she joined him by the console.

Clara could she the relief wash over his face as she spoke. His sagged shoulders straightened, and his expression brightened now that his biggest fear had been removed. If it wasn’t for the circumstance, she would have slapped his arm for having so little faith in her and their friendship. She’d let him off though, just this one time.

He tapped his jacket over his inside top pocket, indicating the mobile phone she had given him was already on his person. That didn’t mean he’d forget about it the next time he changed coats, but it was a good start. Even he couldn’t forget about it forever and the beauty of him being a time traveller meant he could arrive seconds after she sent the message regardless of how long it had been for him.

The TARDIS juddered and started to make the sound it emitted when landing. She wondered if Missy would already be there when she arrived, or would she have to wait for her? This was all presuming the other woman even came of course.

Once the ship was still, she gave the Doctor a quick hug which he not only allowed but reciprocated. It reminded her of the line he had used when they had parted after Danny died – that a hug was the best way to hide your face. She’d told him this wasn’t forever though and all she could do now was enjoy herself for a few days and then prove it.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The Doctor had landed the TARDIS in a quiet thin side street just off the Place des Vosges. As she stepped out of the blue box, she could see the square and the clipped lime trees (that acted like hedges) surrounding its central gardens. Amidst the high sky line of Paris the greenery contrasted spectacularly.

Clara made her way down the street until she was on the edge of the square. It was late autumn and there was a chill in the air, but it was sunny and still. The square was quiet, with the odd tourist milling about admiring the architecture. Clara zipped her jacket up until it reached her silk scarf and stuffed her hands in the pocket.

She could see a café on the corner of the square, some chairs and tables still outside despite the time of year. Only one person sat outside on one of the small round tables. Her figure and dress now very familiar to Clara. Missy was sat facing her but hadn’t noticed her yet as she was reading a newspaper. The Time Lady was wearing her purple skirt and jacket with a white blouse underneath. Her hair was tied up and stilled impeccably – not one hair looked to be out of place. In front of Missy on the table sat a small cake stand, two tea cups and a teapot made of plain white china on a little round tray.  

The Time Lady looked up as Clara approached the table, a wide smile slowly forming on her features as she took in the younger woman.

“You came” Clara stated.

Missy placed the paper down on the edge of the table and sat up straighter, blatantly checking Clara out as she came to a halt just behind the empty chair opposite the other woman.

“You asked me to” the Time Lady replied with an amused expression.

It was reminiscent of the conversation they’d had when Clara had first awoken in the bolt hole house in Kent. The memory brought a smile to her face. She had been pretty stunned that Missy had rescued her back then but the other woman’s response to her message this time was much less of a surprise.

The Time Lady smiled back at her with a look that Clara could only describe as hopeful but guarded. It made the younger woman’s heart pump that little bit harder in her chest as she tried to reason the best way to more forward with the conversation. It was the Time Lady who spoke up first though.

“Tea?” Missy offered.

The Time Lady picked up the teapot and gestured at Clara with it as she spoke. It felt like the other woman had read her mind again or perhaps they really were just that in sync. For, as Clara had pictured, there was not only hot beverages but a selection of pastries on the table. It all looked rather wonderful.

“Definitely” she grinned.

As Clara took the seat opposite Missy, the Time Lady poured them both tea and then dropped two sugar cubes into Clara’s, stirring it carefully before adding milk. She passed the teacup and saucer over to Clara before adding a dash of milk to her own cup.

Clara was entranced by Missy’s delicate movements, her eyes never leaving the older woman until Missy glanced up at her. She blushed and looked down despite the intimacies they had already shared. The newspaper caught her eye – it was a French newspaper and Clara wondered if the Time Lady could speak the language. Missy had obviously spent more time on Earth than she had previously imagined. Perhaps the other woman had a Parisian bolt hole or a rural chateau somewhere?

“Have you been to Paris before?” Missy asked.

Clara looked up from the newspaper to find the Time Lady’s vibrant blue eyes focused firmly on her from above Missy’s teacup. The other woman took a delicate sip as she waited for her to answer.

“No but I’ve always wanted to visit” Clara admitted.

It had been one of the places she had listed on inner sleeve of her book. It had been in the top ten. It was mad to think she had visited a hundred or so other worlds first. Perhaps, if the trip went as Clara planned, Missy would take her to some more of those places listed in her book? She had always wanted to see the Alhambra in Granada, the Palazzo _Vecchio in Florence or visit Venice._

“So, you decided to invite little old me?” Missy smirked.

Despite the tongue in cheek nature of the Time Lady’s response Clara could tell that she was pleased.

She took a sip of her drink, enjoying the way the hot liquid slid down her throat and warmed her belly. It wasn’t uncomfortably cold, but she was glad of the heat of the cup in her hands and warmth spreading over her from being in Missy’s presence again. It was pitiful really, considering it was only hours since she had seen her last. She had missed the other woman’s gazes and touches – missed her wit even though at times it was insufferable.

“Have you been before?” Clara inquired.

Missy pushed the cake stand closer to her, putting an array of tasty looking treats right under Clara’s nose. She reached out and picked out a mini éclair. The other woman waited for her to bite into the pastry before replying.

“Yes, but over a century ago” the Time Lady answered - “it’s changed a bit since then I should imagine.”

Clara imagined that it had altered a bit – a lot fewer horses and carriages, more high-rise buildings and many more people. The essential tourist spots were probably still the same though, except for the new pyramid design of the Louvre.

Clara wanted to see all the sights with the other woman. She took a nervous glance in Missy’s direction to gauge how her request would go down. The Time Lady seemed relaxed in their current environment. She had her tea cup in one hand and a half-eaten choux pastry in the other. Clara took a steadying breath before going for broke.

“Would you like to explore it with me for a few days?” she suggested.

Missy’s eyebrows quirked but Clara had to wait for a response whilst Missy finished off the last of her pastry.

“Like a holiday?” Missy asked once her mouth was empty.

The other woman seemed amused but not obviously against the idea. She supposed that was as good a sign as any. She didn’t want it to be just a ‘holiday’ though. Silly as it may seem given who she was inviting, she really wanted the traditional Paris getaway – the ‘City of Love’ as the Doctor had ribbed her.

“I was thinking more along the lines of a romantic break if I’m being honest” Clara said softly.

Although she wanted to sound confident there was a quiver in her voice that betrayed her fear of being rejected. The Time Lady had been eying up her next mini pastry as Cara spoke, but that little hitch in the younger woman’s voice had caught Missy’s attention. Her light blue eyes had darted back up to Clara’s face, curious and…excited? There had been an audible hitch as the other woman inhaled.

“Oh” Missy smiled broadly - “well most definitely then.”

It was almost maddening how casually the other woman answered after how nervous Clara had been when asking. It was good though – good that Missy seemed keen, good that she didn’t mock her or deny their intimacy stretched that far. Clara could feel heat racing to her cheeks and a flush forming on her chest and when she dared to glance across at the other woman over her tea cup she could see that Missy’s face was a shade pinker than normal.

The Time Lady had redirected from picking out a second pastry to elegantly sipping from her tea cup. Clara suspected it was mainly to hide Missy’s own blush at what was probably completely uncharted territory for her. She could see that Missy was thinking as an easy quiet fell upon them. The other woman’s eyes were fixed on the hot liquid in the china cup and Clara could virtually see the cogs turning.

“I’m surprised the Doctor allowed you to come” the Time Lady mused after around half a minute of silence between them.

Clara had briefly thought, for a moment at least, that he may protest a little bit more than he actually did. If she had doubted him then she could understand why the Time Lady would expect negativity. Clara had gathered that he had spent hundreds of years just trying to shape the Master in his image…and being disappointed when it didn’t happen.

“He did allow you, didn’t he?” Missy added quickly- “You haven’t hit him over the head and left him tied up in the TARDIS because I’ve already had to rescue him twice and…”

“He’s fine” Clara assured the other woman, cutting her off before the Time Lady finished her train of thought - “probably getting into trouble on some distant planet as we speak.”

Although if the Doctor had stuck to his plan of visiting the second most beautiful garden in the universe, then perhaps he was leisurely strolling between flowers instead. Surely even he couldn’t find trouble in a garden. If he had even ended up going there – he’d probably gone somewhere else in a sulk.

“One can only hope” Missy grinned.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

As they had sat and enjoyed the hot tea and exquisite miniature pastry’s, they had talked about Parisian history and French literature. Clara couldn’t claim to be an expert, but she had read the classics – ‘le Comte de Monte-Cristo’, ‘Madame Bovary’, ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘Bel-Ami’. Missy on the other hand had read extensively, something Clara had figured out for herself after seeing the library in the bolt hole house.

Once the pot of tea was empty it became a bit too chilly to simply sit outside. Clara would probably have to buy a thicker coat whilst she was in Paris. Missy on the other hand didn’t seem to feel the cold at all - her Time Lord biology no doubt. As much as Clara was enjoying their conversations she needed to get up and move about if she was going to return the feeling to her outer extremities again.

“Take a walk with me?” she asked.

Missy nodded and elegantly rose to her feet. Clara followed suit (less elegantly) and reached out to link arms with the older woman. To her surprise the Time Lady grasped her hand instead. It was much warmer than her own – noticeably so compared to Clara’s cold skin.

The café was on the corner of the square and next to a path that cut through the clipped lime trees and into the park in the centre. Despite how late in the year it was, everything was still very green and the lawns well preserved. It contrasted magnificently with the cityscape surrounding it. Not that the surrounding buildings were ugly – far from it. Situated in an historic neighbourhood of Paris full of galleries and museums, the renaissance style buildings were made of mainly red brick with large windows.

One of those museums was the former home of Victor Hugo, the author that had written ‘Les Misérables’. It had also been home to Cardinal Richelieu, amongst many other historical French figures. It had been called the Place Royale then, before the French Revolution, and had been one of the earliest examples of European town planning.

They passed the statue of Louis the thirteenth on horseback and continued to walk in the direction of the large stone fountain. From a distance it didn’t look like it had any details on it but as they got closer to it Clara could see that the water was pouring out of small carvings of lion heads.

She halted them on the pathway just before the fountain and looked around, admiring a more three sixty view of the park. It was simple but lovely and Clara imagined it would be even nicer during the summer months. It would also be packed with tourists, unlike today when they were only two of about eight people walking there.

“It’s beautiful” Clara commented.

Her focus had been on the square and sightseeing, but the younger woman took a moment to observe her companion. Her view was of Missy’s profile as the other woman, still hand in hand with Clara, looked off towards the right. The Time Lady looked engaged with their surrounding and not bored as Clara feared. In fact, if Clara had to put a single word to it, she would say Missy looked content. Content, but thoughtful.

“Yes, it is” the Time Lady agreed.

The other woman smiled as she replied, her features softening with the expression. Those blue eyes that could sometimes look so piercing were focussed upon Clara with a look of adoration. It made Clara’s insides melt (figuratively speaking) and her heart flutter and race that little bit quicker.

She stepped into Missy’s space, so they were nearly flush together, pushed up onto the balls of her feet and rested her forehead against the Time Lady’s. She still had Missy’s hand in her right and reached out and blindly grasped for the other hand with her left. They stood there like that, both hands clasped together and eyes closed, for the best part of half a minute. Long enough for their inhales and exhales to slow and match each other’s rhythm. 

There was a charged energy between them that had been ever present during their time hopping adventure and it was practically thrumming in the air around them now. Any doubts that Clara had held about asking Missy to spend time with her for just the sheer pleasure of it (and not due to peril) were washing away like a receding tide. No doubt that like a tide they would ebb and flow – they were both too stubborn and controlling in nature to always run smoothly together. She found that she didn’t mind this idea though.

“What are we doing Clara?” Missy broke the charged silence between them.

“Walking around the Place des Vosges” the younger woman replied smoothly.

Clara knew she wasn’t answering the actual question that the Time Lady was asking but it was a serious topic and they needed a bit of levity.

“Cute, but you know what I mean dear” Missy chuckled.

The Time Lady edged back slightly so they were no longer forehead to forehead and looked Clara in the eyes. She could see the insecurity and confusion behind the smile and released the other woman’s right hand so she could reach up and brush her knuckles across Missy’s cheek reassuringly.

As relieved as she had been that the Time Lady had met her in Paris and agreed to stay with her, Clara knew this conversation would make or break them. She had expected it at some point in the upcoming days but apparently the other woman was jumping straight in there. So, Clara took a deep breath to steady her own nerves knowing that she would need to be the bold one, before answering as honestly and concisely as she could manage.

“I’m exploring the possibility of a proper relationship with you” she stated - “or something real that works for us anyway.”

Clara was aware that in using the words ‘proper relationship’ it may signal stereotypic ideas like the white picket fence house, coming back home to each other every evening, marriage etc etc. So, she had moved to clarify that it would be their own version because none of that sounded very ‘them’.

When Missy didn’t immediately reply but dropped her eyes to the floor thoughtfully, Clara decided some levity was very much still needed for this to go smoothly.

“Why, what are you doing?” she countered with a smile.

Missy glanced back up at her and smiled back, shaking her head in light amusement at the redirection of the question back at her.

The older woman pressed a little closer to Clara again, so they were flush together and wrapped her free arm around the smaller woman’s waist. Missy’s warm hand slipped between the material of her blouse and leather jacket and splayed across her back. Despite how close they were stood; the Time Lady drew her neck back a little so she could still see Clara’s face clearly. 

She audibly swallowed as she waited for the Time Lady’s reply – her mouth feeling very dry suddenly. Her big brown eyes were locked up at Missy’s bright blue ones – their focus so intensely directed at each other that it was like the rest of the Place de Vosges and the other people had fallen away into nothingness.

“Putting my heart in someone else’s hands…and that terrifies me Clara” the Time Lady admitted in barely more than a whisper.

If the younger woman had thought that her heart was beating quickly before then it was going at the speed of light now. Missy admitting feelings was a big deal purely on its own but Missy admitting insecurities and vulnerabilities was unprecedentedly huge. Clara realised she may have slightly misread the situation and that brevity or levity may not be the best tact to take. The other woman needed to feel her confidence and needed to be assured.

She let go of Missy’s other hand too and cupped the Time Lady’s cheeks between her palms. Her thumbs delicately caressed the soft skin in front of the other woman’s ears. Clara made sure that Missy was looking right at her when she next spoke.

“When you rescued me from the Kroton’s I was relieved, exhilarated and a little bit scared. I couldn’t imagine for a second that I would fall in love with you, but I have…” the younger woman admitted heartfeltly.

Missy’s eyes widened in surprise at the use of the L word, but she remained still and utterly focussed on Clara. She did feel the grip of the Time Lady’s arm around her waist increase in pressure by the tiniest of margins as Missy held on to her just that bit tighter. Clara took another deep breath before ploughing on.

“…and yes, it’s terrifying – feelings are terrifying because they make you vulnerable to someone but if it’s the right someone then that risk doesn’t matter because you can’t imagine not being near them or touching them or holding them.”

Clara had only managed a handful of hours before longing for the other woman. For the small touches that had become almost common place between them over the last couple of days. For the night they had spent together, first in passion and then in each other’s arms. For the moments of softness that Missy had shown her – hell, even for the other woman’s sarcasm and sometimes inappropriately timed wit.

“Maybe I’m insane but after the last few days I can’t imagine my life without you in it” Clara admitted.

She didn’t even see Missy’s reaction. Instead the other woman’s lips crashed against hers eagerly. The smattering of tourists who were also in the park were long forgotten and Clara kissed the Time Lady back like she was the oxygen the younger woman needed to breath.

She buried one of her hands in Missy’s neat bun (it wouldn’t be so neat anymore) and the other moved lower and gripped at the other woman’s angular shoulder blades through the material of her jacket. One of the Time Lady’s hands had buried itself in Clara’s own hair – fingertips lightly and pleasantly scratching the back of her scalp. The other hand was much more active and roamed up and down the younger woman’s back and sides, drifting awfully close to her rear jean pocket for public viewing.

It was that movement that reminded Clara that this was a public display of affection, even if the park was quiet. She pulled back from the kiss but kept Missy in her arms, marvelling at how the Time Lady looked at her in wonder and awe. It was obvious the older woman wanted to say something to her as Missy’s mouth opened almost comically two or three times.

“Clara…” the Time Lady tried, before trailing off and frowning.

The younger woman stroked Missy’s cheeks with her thumbs again to soothe her concerns. She was confident she knew what was going on in the other woman’s head. Not through any new found psychic ability but through good old-fashioned deduction and the lost look on Missy’s face.  

“You don’t have to say it back” she assured the other woman gently - “I don’t want you to say it just because you feel you have to – the fact you are here says plenty.”

Clara meant it. Of course, it would be nice to have the Time Lady say those three words back to her, but it wasn’t a deal clincher (or breaker). She was sure Missy felt it – the meaning of those words – but expressing them out loud was something entirely different. She had said those words to Danny Pink once, and promised they were his alone. It had been a hurdle for her to express them to someone else. Not because she felt more for Danny – not at all. She’d wanted to love him because he was good, nice and safe. In hindsight Clara wasn’t sure if she truly loved him or just the idea of him. Its what set apart how she felt for the Time Lady. She hadn’t wanted or planned on falling for Missy but had done so regardless.

The Time Lady smiled at her softly in response – those blue eyes that had once seemed so distant and manic shining with the sort of emotion she had once thought Missy incapable of. How wrong she had been. How lucky was she to be the person who drew this side of the other woman out to the surface?

“So, what are we going to see first?” Missy asked.

It was a welcome change of pace for both of them. Clara didn’t have any immediate plans other than the fact she wanted to see Paris. Where they went first was neither here nor there to her.

She dropped her hands away from Missy’s shoulders so that they were wrapped around the other woman’s slender waist. They should probably stop at a shop or two during the day and pick up some clothes. All Clara had brought was herself and the clothing she was currently wearing. Missy needed something other than her Mary Poppins outfit on if they were going to sightsee around Paris in 2015. Or at least, if they were going to go sightseeing inconspicuously. It was a topic she would broach later – for now they could just endure the odd funny look.

 “We can do whatever you like” Clara responded – wanting to give the Time Lady some control of the situation considering she was already asking a lot of her.

Missy waggled her eyebrows suggestively and pulled Clara flush to her by her hips. The younger woman could feel her internal temperature rising at the suggestion but despite how tempting it was she had no intentions of spending the day in bed.

“Except go straight to a hotel!” Clara chided playfully – tapping the other woman’s hands away from her hips as she spoke.

Missy raised her hands up in defeat, but her smirk suggested she wasn’t offended by the rebuff.  Clara grasped one of those hands in her own and started to gently tug the Time Lady in the direction of the Victor Hugo museum. It was probably best if she controlled the itinerary after all.

“Spoil sport” Missy chuckled as she allowed herself to be led.

Clara suspected they would end up in that hotel room long before evening, but she’d at least see one tourist attraction before then and purchase a pair of jeans for her troublesome girlfriend. After all, this was just day one. They had all week to enjoy Paris and see the Eiffel Tower.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really sad that this is the last chapter. I loved writing this and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it. Your amazing comments have really inspired me. Cheers x


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